Immediately after the premiere of "Palestrina" in Munich in 1917, Hans Pfitzner began work on his only violin sonata, op. 27, which was completed in May 1918. It must be considered - along with the Piano Quintet and the C-sharp minor String Quartet - as one of his most important chamber music works. It is strongly influenced by the temporal proximity to "Palestrina," which is true both generally in terms of mood and structurally: brittle, elegiac, and "muddled" passages alternate with grippingly virtuosic and tomboyishly humorous ones. Pfitzner, by the way, dedicated the sonata to the "Royal Swedish Academy of Music", so it is particularly appealing to hear it interpreted from a Swedish perspective: Ulf Wallin and Roland Pöntinen, our two brilliant Reger interpreters, are the ideal pair for this. Additionally Roland Pöntinen dedicates himself to Pfitzner's only solo piano cycles: the Five Piano Pieces op. 47 and the Six Studies op. 51.
Works:
•Pfitzner: Violin Sonata in E Minor, Op. 27
• Pfitzner: 5 Klavierstücke, Op. 47
• Pfitzner: 6 Studien, Op. 51