Grieg: Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 8 / Bartok: Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117 / Strauss: Violin Sonata, Op. 18

Vilde Frang, one of the leading young soloists to emerge from Scandinavia in recent years, brings together a diverse, yet complimentary selection of sonatas for her second EMI Classics release. The young Norwegian violinist has been noted particularly for her superb musical expression, as well as her well-developed virtuosity and musicality.

Edvard Grieg's spirited Violin Sonata No.1 in F Major, Op. 8 and Richard Strauss's youthful Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 18 are paired with Bartók's technically challenging, musically complex Sonata for Solo Violin, BB 124, Sz. 117. Frang frequently performs the later, which Bartók composed as homage to Bach, with the Strauss in concert. Pianist Michail Lifits joins Frang in this recording.

Frang's debut recording, Sibelius and Prokofiev: Violin Concertos received wide-spread critical acclaim. The Financial Times wrote "rarely has this music sounded so tender, so intimate or so lyrical" while Independent Record Review called her "prodigiously gifted". Frang has been compared to a young Anne-Sophie Mutter, her mentor, with whom she often performs. Born in 1986 in Norway, Frang has studied at the Barratt Due Music Institute in Oslo, with Kolja Blacher at Musikhochschule Hamburg and Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy.