Stained Glass (Johan Dalene, Christian Ihle Hadland) (CD)

Alongside Ravel’s Sonata, a work that reveals the influence of jazz on the French composer, and Prokofiev’s wartime Sonata, Op. 94a, an idiomatic arrangement of its original version for flute, we find compositions by Arvo Pärt, Lili Boulanger and Grazyna Bacewicz, which, at times meditative, at times lyrical, at times folk-inspired, testify to the richness of this repertoire.

These works are here performed by Johan Dalene, the Swedish-Norwegian winner of the 2019 Nielsen Competition.

The present disc is violinist’s fourth release on BIS, following a recording of the Nielsen and Sibelius Concertos named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone and awarded the 2023 Swedish Grammis Award for Best Classical, the Tchaikovsky Concerto described as ‘one of the finest violin débuts of the last decade’ in BBC Music Magazine, and ‘Nordic Rhapsody’, a violin and-piano recital that was awarded distinctions such as Diapason d’or and Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice.As with that release, Dalene is given here the expert support of Christian Ihle Hadland who has also appeared on other much-lauded recordings, most recently one dedicated to Saint-Saëns’ violin sonatas.

Works
Bacewicz: Humoreske, for violin & piano
Bacewicz: Kolysanka (Lullaby), for violin & piano
Bacewicz: Moravian Dance (Taniec mazowiecki) for Violin & Piano
Bacewicz: Witraz (Stained-Glass Window)
Boulanger, L: Nocturne
Pärt: Fratres for Violin & Piano
Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 94a
Ravel: Violin Sonata in G major