Sonatas for Two Violins

Mathieu van Bellen and Maria Milstein write of their new album: "The setting of this album - two violins without accompaniment - is no ordinary combination, and the repertoire, though encompassing several style periods from the Baroque to the 21st century, is much smaller than that of a more standard duo such as violin and piano. When choosing a program for this album, we were adamant to present works which, rather than using virtuosic violin display as a means to an end, are masterworks in their own right, where the virtuosity of writing is a simple tool used to create breathtaking landscapes and thrilling stories. Three different countries and three different universes, though all three composed within less than half a century - the Sonatas for Two Violins by Serguei Prokofiev, Henryk Górecki and Eugène Ysaÿe show with their incredible variety how exciting a violin duo can be."