Avoiding the showmanship and outward virtuosity often associated with brilliant composer-performers, George Enescu’s Second Violin Sonata marked his true emergence as a composer. Violinist Carl Flesch referred to it as one of the most significant in the history of the genre. The Impromptu concertant is amongst the most raptly expressive of violin ‘test’ pieces, and the Sonata ‘Torso’ paved the way towards the harmonic expansion of Enescu’s later work. The most renowned of his works for violin and piano, the Third Violin Sonata explores the essence of Romanian folk-music in an outpouring of sustained emotional power.
