Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2, Sonatas (Deluxe Version)

The Sonata for Two Violins in C Major was composed during a 1932 holiday on the French Riviera. Janine Jansen and Boris Brovtsyn find glorious colours in the writing, bringing a rich expressiveness to this rarely heard work. In the Violin Concerto No. 2, Jansen proves herself yet again a terrific Prokofiev interpreter, her strong, individual performance supported by Jurowski and the LPO in coruscating form. Perhaps the highlight of this album, however, is Jansen and Itamar Golan’s performance of the Violin Sonata No. 1, a work of bittersweet beauty, parts of which were performed at the composer’s funeral in 1953. The two players are perfectly attuned to its strange, quirky atmosphere and inhabit every bar with total commitment—right up to the finale’s manic closing pages.