Shortly after his remarkable Violin Concerto by Carl Nielsen at Chandos, James Ehnes publishes a recital for violin and piano whose piece de resistance (20 minutes) is Myths, by Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937), which gives its title to the disc. The territory is marked from the outset with a Fountain of Arethusa of infinitesimal subtlety and a Narcissus solar. James Ehnes wanted to associate the Sonata in D, HWV 371 (12 minutes), by Händel “once a pillar of the violin repertoire, abandoned by recent generations”. The characteristic of this project is decidedly heterogeneous, since the remaining 18 minutes are devoted to “bis”: a Sicilian by Maria Theresia von Paradis, the flight of the bumblebeeaBurlesque of Suk, song without words by Tchaikovsky, 133… at least by Howard, Estrellita of Ponce and Molly on the Shore from Grainger. It is therefore a CD for admirers of a still radiant violinist (bowing technique!) and for those who want another option to Danczowska-Zimerman in Szymanowski.
To see in video