Gramophone Editor's Choices - June 2021

James Ehnes (violin)

Ysaÿe: Sonata for solo violin in G minor, Op. 27 No. 1
Ysaÿe: Sonata for solo violin in A minor, Op. 27 No. 2
Ysaÿe: Sonata for solo violin in D minor, Op. 27 No. 3 'Ballade'
Ysaÿe: Sonata for solo violin in E minor, Op. 27 No. 4
Ysaÿe: Sonata for solo violin in G major, Op. 27 No. 5
Ysaÿe: Sonata for solo violin in E major, Op. 27 No. 6

Multi award-winning violinist James Ehnes recorded this album during lockdown at his home. Recording commenced in the early hours of the morning when all was quiet in the house. The solo violin, recorded in the small hours during these troubled times, makes for a powerful and intimate listening experience. Ysaÿe’s six sonatas for solo violin are, together with JS Bach’s Sonatas & Partitas, the most important extended works for the solo violin. Ysaÿe composed each one of them with a particular violinist in mind, capturing their personality and characteristics of their playing.

These sonatas represent the stylistic bridge between the old and the new, between tradition and improvisation, offering a glimpse into a ‘golden’ era of fast evolving traditions of playing, of which Ysaÿe was one of the leading voices.