Grammy-nominated violinist Jennifer Koh and virtuoso pianist Shai Wosner play 20th-century works by three remarkable Central European composers who intertwine folkloric influences with their own unmistakable originality.The album includes Leoš Janáček’s Moravian influenced Sonata for violin and piano, Béla Bartók’s impassioned Violin Sonata No. 1, and compelling miniatures by György Kurtág, including Tre Pezzi for violin and piano and selections from Signs, Games and Messages.

An ideal duo for this riveting repertoire, Koh, a “high-octane” violinist (The Strad), is renowned for her “potent performances and unusually thoughtful recitals and recordings” (The New York Times) while Wosner possesses a “keen musical mind and deep musical soul” (NPR’s “All Things Considered”). On their live performance, The Philadelphia Inquirer praised Koh’s “strikingly beautiful” playing in the Bartok sonata. Wosner brought a “diaphanous tone deeply sympathetic to the Debussy-like writing” to the Janáček.

This is Koh’s eighth album on Cedille Records. Her String Poetic was nominated for a chamber music Grammy award, and her Violin Fantasies was the subject of an in-depth interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” She’s also recorded for Chandos and Telarc. Wosner, a BBC New Generation Artist and fellow recipient (to Koh) of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, is known to record buyers for his critically acclaimed albums on the Onyx label.