<<<  <<  -- 3 --  Howard Smith    UNDIVIDED ARTISTRY  --  >>  >>>

Remus Azoitei's Enesco Complete Works for Violin & Piano Vol I ends with Sonata No 2, a consummate work written when the composer was only eighteen and while the sonata bears rhythms and resonances akin to Brahms, the work retains the already inimitable imprint of the mature Enescu. These players illuminate its bold chromatic core, its pensive central lullaby and the spirited (Vif) finale [listen -- track 14, 5:20-7:27] with conspicuous, skilled fidelity to Enescu's changing demands -- indeed a truly commanding performance.

Though Azoitei's training was very much in the American Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki, Perlman school and with French-born (Szeryng pupil) Maurice Hasson, his Romanian musical roots are clearly unimpaired.

Continue >>

For help listening to the sound extracts here, please refer to our questions & answers page.