Album: Kodaly, Sonata / Epigrams etc – Clein / Drake (Hyperion)

From 1898's Romance Lyrique onwards, Natalie Clein traces the life of Hungary's foremost musical educator.

Her greatest achievement is the 1915 Sonata: a fusion of Baroque rigour, Romantic breadth and ancient folk melodies, with tangy scordatura, ululating trills and bitter pizzicato – a world away from the swooning verbunkos of the Budapest cafés. Pianist Julius Drake shades the introduction to the 1922 Sonatina exquisitely. A bold recital in which Clein embraces a darker, wilder sound.