Record Review
25th January 2020

Gramophone Magazine
February 2020
Editor's Choice

Johan Dalene (violin)

Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Blendulf

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
Barber: Violin Concerto, Op. 14

Born in 2000, Swedish violinist Johan Dalene is already making an impact on the international scene. His refreshingly honest musicality, combined with an ability to engage with musicians and audiences alike, has won him many admirers. Johan began playing the violin at the age of four and made his professional concerto debut three years later. A student at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, he has also worked closely with mentors including Janine Jansen, Leif Ove Andsnes and Gidon Kremer. Johan has been a prize winner at a number of competitions, most recently the prestigious Carl Nielsen Competition at which he won First Prize.

During the finals of the Nielsen competition Johan performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, a work which he had already recorded for BIS two months earlier, in January 2019. On this debut recording, Johan plays with his ‘local band’: Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, known from many acclaimed recordings on BIS . The disc closes with Samuel Barber’s lyrical and contemplative Violin Concerto from 1939.

"From the shaping of his solo entrance in the Tchaikovsky alone there’s a ‘presence’ about Johan Dalene’s playing that announces a musician of special sensibilities… the most striking thing about this young Swedish player is the complete absence of showiness or indeed any sense of virtuosity on display… The Barber really suits Dalene… it is testament to a maturity way beyond his years that he comes close to breaking your heart with it." Gramophone Magazine, February 2020.