Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2

Album review

When Krzysztof Penderecki famously adopted tonality around 1980, composers everywhere noted that the tide had turned against the avant-garde. Penderecki's apparent volte face was viewed by some as a necessary change for the betterment of contemporary music, and by others as a betrayal of modernist principles. While debate may continue over the implications of Penderecki's changes in expression and musical language, few would argue that any of his works, either side of that watershed year, should be dismissed. Indeed, if the Violin Sonata No. 1 (1953) and Miniatures (1959) are heard with an open mind, they seem only marginally more adventurous than many works by Bartók or Webern. Similarly, the Cadenza for solo viola (1984) and the Violin Sonata No. 2 (2000) seem less like pastiches of past composers or styles, and more like logical extensions of ideas that were there all along; angular lines and dramatic contrasts of dynamics and textures are as much a part of Penderecki's new rhetoric as they were in the old. In any event, violinist Ida Bieler and pianist Nina Tichman clearly understand the composer's underlying goals, and their performances are coherent and expressive, and their consistent tone unifies the album. The recorded sound is clear and focused.
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