Strauss / Respighi / Ponce Violin Sonatas

On this new album, violinist Valerie Steenken and pianist Ricardo Alí Álvarez perform three significant violin sonatas by Richard Strauss, Ottorino Respighi, and Manuel M. Ponce. Conceived as a journey through German, Italian, and Mexican traditions, the program builds a bridge between the lyrical style of the late Romantic period and the modern expressiveness of the early 20th century. Strauss's early Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 18, combines soaring melodic invention with symphonic breadth, while Respighi's Sonata in B minor unfolds as a grand, rhetorically charged architecture that culminates in a majestic passacaglia. Ponce's Sonata breve, written in Paris in 1930, features a unique and refined style. In this recording, Valerie Steenken (concertmaster of the Spanish National Orchestra) and Ricardo Alí Álvarez (professor at the Reina Sofía School of Music) offer performances of exceptional unity. Steenken's radiance, natural phrasing, and expressive precision find an ideal counterpart in Álvarez's piano playing—which is sensitive, detailed, and dynamically nuanced. Their dialogue testifies to a deep understanding of structure and sound, bringing the emotional core of each work to life.