Protest
Navona, 2023
8/10
The inimitable Ukrainian violinist Myroslava Khomik brings her skills to pieces by 4 composers, where James Lent and Fureya Unal are on hand with their piano prowess for songs about freedom and defiance against oppression.
“Ukrainian Poeme”, by Yevhen Stankovych, begins the listen with the emotive violin and Unal’s graceful piano interacting with tremendous beauty, and Witold Lutosławski’s “Partita for Violin and Piano” follows with a more rumbling approach thanks to Lent's dense finger acrobatics alongside the tense strings.
“Post Scriptum Sonata for Violin and Piano” arrives in the middle, and pairs Khomik’s stirring string manipulation with Lent’s agile keys in the Valentyn Silvestrov composition, while “Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1”, by Myroslav Skoryk, uses the violin and piano together for a precise and cinematic quality that’s as thought provoking as it is eloquent.
The composers present hail from Ukraine and Poland, and the turbulence those countries are experiencing is met with the strength and resilience that these songs encapsulate and it’s illuminated flawlessly by the strings and keys.
Travels well with: Trio Casals- A Grand Journey; Georgina Rossi- Chorinho