Belgian violinist and composer
Eugène Ysaÿe is known first and foremost as being one of the preeminent violin virtuosos of his time. His numerous works for his own instruments -- from charming miniatures to the violin concerto and the set of sonatas for solo violin -- have become an increasingly integral part of the modern violin repertoire. What is less known is that
Ysaÿe's compositional output was not limited to works for his own instrument. Found on this Klara album are four chamber works that are rarely, if ever, heard. Two of the works -- the String Quartet London and the Paganini Variations for string quartet -- are in fact arrangements of other chamber works created by
Ysaÿe's grandson, Jacques Ysaÿe. The two works for string quintet (incorporating two violas) are original. Performing these sometimes mesmerizing, sometimes nebulous works is the
Kryptos Quartet along with second violist Vlad Bogdanas.
Ysaÿe's chamber music writing is as sophisticated and intricate as his violin works. The young members of
Kryptos put forth a noble effort to be the first to record some of these pieces, but they seem to struggle to deliver a comprehensible, unified musical vision to their listeners. There are no breaks or track separations, yielding four massive tracks of almost continuous playing that lacks sufficient delineation when the music moves from one idea to the next. What's more,
Kryptos doesn't have the polished, refined chops -- particularly in the intonation department -- to really put forward an authoritative reading of these curious works.