Frank Almond (violin), William Wolfram (piano) - A Violin’s Life Vol 2 album review

A Violin's Life Vol 2
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Artist: Frank Almond, William Wolfram, Amanda Maier-Röntgen, Eduard Tubin, Ludwig van Beethoven
Genre: Classical
Label: Avie

If you like historical associations you’ll love the new disc of works associated with Frank Almond’s violin, the Lipinski Stradivarius of 1715.

The connection of the 1877 Violin Sonata by Swedish violinist and composer Amanda Maier is that her father-in-law, Engelbert Röntgen, owned the violin. Estonian composer Eduard Tubin’s 1962 Sonata for solo violin is included because Estonian violinist Evi Liivak played the instrument from 1962 onwards and often programmed Tubin’s work.

And in 1840 Karol Lipinski, whose name the violin now carries, played Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata on it with Franz Liszt. The two rarities are well done, although fiery passion does sometimes dominate over sheer accuracy in the Kreutzer.

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor