Bloch: Violin Sonata No 2; Janacek: Violin Sonata; Shostakovich: Violin Sonata

The 1920s produced some of the finest violin and piano sonatas of the 20th century. Ernest Bloch followed his war-drenched First Violin Sonata with the more optimistic Second in 1924, which is recorded here. It calls on both Gregorian chant and Hebraic elements and is subtitled

Poème mystique.

Janacek said he began his sole surviving, highly individual violin sonata in 1914 as a response to war, although it didn’t reach its final form until 1921. Shostakovich’s late sonata dates from 1968, and is bleak and black. Midori’s performances are mixed. There are passages of virtuosic engagement where she sounds fully herself, and others that fall somewhere between neutral and penny-plain. Overall, disappointing.

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