Antonin Dvorak: Mazurek Op. 49, B.89
Edvard Grieg: Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45
Leoš Janáček: Sonata for Violin and Piano

The two main works in this recording of pieces for violin and piano are from two diametrically opposed composers, poles apart in style and sound. And therein lies the deeply musical, expressive character and spiritual fusion of the Shea-Kim Duo, Brendan Shea (violin) and Yerin Kim (piano), in that they can seamlessly slip into character from one to the next, and get under the skin so to speak, of each composer's impulse.

Anyone familiar with his Peer Gynt, Holberg Suite or set of Lyric Pieces for piano will attest that for Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), melody and expressive imagery were paramount. And this certainly applies to his Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 3 in C minor of which the slow alla Romanza movement alone could easily be considered one of the most beautifully expressive in the genre. And both Shea and Kim bring out all of its charms and highly lyrical character. Now the same could be said about the sadly evocative Ballada movement from the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Czech composer Leoš Janáček (1854-1928). But then anyone familiar with his famous Sinfonietta knows that this composer's unique style and sound can sometimes seem purposely coarse, agrestic and unrefined. And such is the case in the final two movements during which Janáček seems to have gone out of his way to make the violin sound aggressively ugly, possibly as a reflection of the times, as it was written during the first world war. And here once again Brendan Shea and Yerin Kim get inside the music and expose its convulsive traits as well as its odd sense of tenderness and loss.

The award-winning Shea-Kim Duo was founded in 2014 by violinist Brendan Shea and pianist Yerin Kim. As partners in music and in life, they have toured the world performing across the United States, Europe and Asia. {Blue Griffin Records}