The wind blows rough! Franziska Pietsch treats the solosonate Sz 117 by Béla Bartók (1881-1945) in a non-folkloristic and clear manner, as the Hungarian music innovator probably imagined. Folk music as inspiration, but not as an illustration: The meticulous folk-song collector Bartók spanned the stylistic arc of his work very far. To trace precisely this tension is the task of the interpreter. The violinist takes on the Sonata Sz 117 with an almost harsh tone, which certainly does not appeal to every Bartók friend, but always provides clear conditions.

When Béla Bartók was not happy in exile in the United States, he was largely ignored and his art was misunderstood. Yehudi Menuhin "ordered" a virtuoso piece for herself - and got the challenging, multi-layered sonata.

Baroque forms

So pointed and powerful Franziska Pietsch interprets the first movement ("Tempo di ciaccona", a chaconne), so delicately and gently she feels the third ("Melodia"). A game of contrasts and baroque forms that can be found in the final Presto. If you do not mind the gripping tone, you'll get pure Bartók.

Franziska Pietsch, born 1969 in Halle, has been playing the violin since she was five years old, studied with Ulf Hoelscher in Karlsruhe and among others with Ruggiero Ricci at the Juilliard School in New York, won numerous prizes and developed a wide repertoire from Beethoven to Szymanowski. Their current CD also testifies to this stylistic accuracy and manual brilliance.

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The same applies to the Belgian composer Eugène Ysaye (1858-1931), whose manual and musical challenges to the soloist make quite different demands. Flowing, pointed, with long arcs his complex music must be portrayed. As in Ysaye's solo sonata Op. 27/2, whose contrasts Franziska Pietsch brings with reliable technology, but as light as a feather. The composer colleague Claude Debussy appreciated Ysaye's music, and virtuosos like Jascha Heifetz played his solo pieces with devotion.

An early masterpiece

The Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang puts herself at the service of the ensemble in her interpretation of the string octet by George Enescu (1881-1955), who incorporates the folk music of his native Romania into his compositions in a completely different way. Deep harmony and intimate harmony, in addition to influences of the incipient modernity of the twentieth century, Enescu blends into an individual style that is similarly original, but completely different from that of his peer Bartók. The octet, written as early as 1900, is considered to be the early masterpiece of the violinist and composer George Enescu, and it is just so bubbling with ideas.

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Violins virtuoso: Pietsch and Frang unite opposites

Only the second movement ("Très fougueux") or the bold, multi-layered waltz ("Mouvement de valse bien rythmée") grab the listener directly. The dramaturgical design, the accents by the cellos (Nicolas Altstaedt, Jan-Erik Gustafsson) serve Vilde Frang and her soloists impeccably and clearly: One understands what Enescus contemporaries delighted in this lively and melancholy Cabinet piece.

Dedication and fresh design

The bridge to Enescu's contemporary Bartók beats Vilde Frang just as convincingly. Together with the Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France under the direction of the Finnish conductor Mikko Franck, both emphasize the still late-romantic melodic arcs and emotional heights that Bartók composed in his concert at the age of 27.

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Bartók himself could no longer experience the work on the concert stage, it was first performed 13 years after his death. A poignant piece to this day. Perhaps Bartók would have been amazed at how much devotion and fresh design Vilde Frang could put into her interpretation: After all the significant versions of Isaac Stern, Arthur Grumiaux or Yehudi Menuhin to modern readings by Christian Tetzlaff and Renaud Capucon the concert still fascinates by his timeless power.