Graf Mourja, Elena Rozanova

Ravel, Maurice, Schnittke, Alfred, Szymanowski, Karol

Mourja, Graf, Rozanova, Elena

HMN 911701

Nakład wyprzedany, ostatnie 2 egzemplarze This recital of 20th-century violin works brings to our attention a technically superb and musically refined young soloist, born in Ukraine but of Hungarian parentage. This latter element in his background may account for the flair and conviction with which he invests his entirely idiomatic performance of Ravel's Tzigane, a tribute to the gypsy violin tradition, though Mourja's lucid approach to the characteristically Gallic colours and textures of the same composer's 1927 Sonata is equally finely judged, even if the second movement (Blues) needs to swing just a little more. Alfred Schnittke's first sonata of 1963 is less well known but it's a piece that in its cogency and drama advances Schnittke's claims to be considered as Shostakovich's heir. More perfumed are the Notturno and Tarantella by the Polish early-20th-century master Karol Szymanowski--hugely demanding in their evanescent moods and carried off here, as is everything in the programme, with impeccable taste. Mourja's partner, the pianist Elena Rozanova (also from Ukraine), matches him skill for skill, and the sound is excellent.

Works:

• Ravel: Tzigane
• Ravel: Violin Sonata in G major
• Schnittke: Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano
• Szymanowski: Nocturne & Tarantella, Op. 28

CD x 1

Harmonia Mundi

2000-05-02

794881503223