Carl Nielsen and George Enescu: Violin Sonatas

Featuring

Mihaela Oprea
Jakob Alsgaard Bahr
Carl August Nielsen
George Enescu

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Both Carl Nielsen and George Enescu were deeply influenced by folk music from their childhoods, which flows through their sonatas on this album.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in the Alsion Concert Hall in Sønderborg, Denmark, a venue internationally recognized for its excellent acoustics for classical music.

Compositional Technique

George Enescu's Violin Sonata No. 3 combines refined classical composition techniques, learned from figures like Fauré, with the spirit of Romanian folk music.

Instruments

Mihaela Oprea, the violinist on this album, plays a 'Sergio Peresson' violin, kindly lent by the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester (South Denmark Philharmonic Orchestra).

Composer Biography

Carl Nielsen, a Danish composer, learned to play the violin at age six while sick with measles, with his mother teaching him folk melodies by ear.

Composer Biography

George Enescu, a Romanian composer, began violin lessons at age four with a Roma musician named Nicolae Filip, learning folk tunes by ear as Filip could not read music.

Composer's Artistic Vision

George Enescu believed Romanian folk music, which greatly influenced his work, was preserved and passed down by Roma musicians, for which he expressed gratitude.