”A dazzling recital from an exceptional young artist”
BBC Music Magazine
Editor's Choice, Gramophone, Nov 2024
Chamber Choice of the Month, BBC Music Magazine, Dec 2024
The Strad Recommends, The Strad, Jan 2025
The repertoire we have chosen for this album consists mainly of pieces that have been with me since my childhood. With this recital, Johan Dalene, accompanied by Peter Friis Johansson, offers us a selection of popular violin pieces that have accompanied him since his early years. After hearing them in the family car on long journeys, he went on to learn them and then play them in competitions and in concerts. He now gives us (and himself) a treat and continues the tradition of great violinists such as Heifetz, Perlman and Vengerov, who have all made recordings of favourite encores and recital pieces. To finally record them himself proved to be an ‘extremely inspiring and challenging project’, says Dalene. The programme is built around three virtuoso works, Tzigane (Ravel), Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (Saint-Saëns) and Carmen Fantasy (Waxman), alongside which more reflective pieces by Massenet, Tchaikovsky, Falla and Kreisler have been included. Also featured is a rarely played miniature by Swedish composer Amanda Maier – a work which, according to Dalene, ‘is a gem full of spirit!’ A programme that celebrates the multiple sides of the violin, at times virtuoso, at times lyrical, always seductive.
Reviews
"A window on the past facilitated by two brilliant young players....Johan Dalene claims a level of tonal distinction that many of his peers, even the best of them, lack: he knows how to use vibrato and portamento in pursuit of a singing line (he’s no mere imitator of past players), and when it comes to brief morceaux, such as most of these are, he invests each phrase with a wealth of feeling and style."
Gramophone, Rob Cowan
"Here’s an archetypal recital programme which every emerging violin virtuoso would dream of recording, though few recent contenders have done so with such unerring assurance and mastery as Johan Dalene....His partnership with Peter Friis Johansson yields one of the most satisfying instrumental releases I’ve considered for some time...A superb issue which can only bode well for the future of this exceptional young fiddler. Highly recommended."
BBC Music Magazine, Michael Jameson
"An intoxicating programme inspired by childhood...Johan Dalene recalls long car journeys as a young boy, spent listening to virtuoso violin pieces. It confirmed him on a path of study which has led to him being acclaimed as one of the world’s most celebrated young artists.He has indeed come full circle with this excellent and warmly recorded release of violin favourites – a perfect festive treat...Dalene and Johansson revelling in the passionate and stormy music."
The Strad, Joanne Talbot
"The exceptional Dalene produces a rich tone that only the great legends achieve...he sings dreamily....he creates sound fantasies out of the virtuoso performances...he makes it swing. Spellbounding from beginning to end. On the surface this is a lightweight album, but through Dalene's artistry it delves deep into the mysteries of what a single violin can accomplish."
Klassekampen, Magnus Andersson
"...he draws on various models from the golden age; his portamento, nicely approaching but never going into the territory of too much, reminds one of Fritz Kreisler... Other attractions include the smooth, circumspect accompaniemntal work of Peter Friis Johansson and the BIS label's surround sound.....An exciting release that continues to promise great things from Dalene."
Allmusic.com, James Manheim