YSAYE: SIX SONATAS FOR SOLO VIOLIN, OP. 27 – DAVID GRIMAL La Dolce Volta

David Grimal’s first recording for La Dolce Volta contains the Six Sonatas for unaccompanied violin by Eugène Ysaÿe, an extraordinary violinist who played in his era a role compa- rable to that of Niccolò Paganini. They constitute peaks of virtuosity that few violinists can even contemplate tackling.

It is worth noting the total and all too rare fidelity to both the letter and the spirit of the text in these performances. David Grimal displays the full maturity of his playing: he has made his own the very essence of each movement, with its architecture and its specific gestures. His transcendental yet invariably humble technique works wonders.

The widest imaginable palette of colours, accents and dynamics bestows musical truth on this album, recorded in July 2019. And beyond our admiration for the technical mastery, we can clearly perceive the emotion inherent in these pieces. For David Grimal, Eugène Ysaÿe was one of the key figures of the violin at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth cen- turies, and a source of personal inspiration. He sees in this corpus ‘a document of astonishing creative power that looks back to the past, reflects the present and opens out towards the future.’

Interpretations and explorations with David Grimal, a magis-terial servant of Ysaÿe’s music.

SONATA NO.1 IN G MINOR, ‘JOSEPH SZIGETI’

Grave 5’29
Fugato 5’27
Allegretto poco scherzoso 4’36
Finale con brio 3’02

SONATA NO.2 A MINOR, ‘JACQUES THIBAUD’

Obsession 2’50
Malinconia 2’37
Danse des Ombres 4’02
Les Furies 3’49