Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin

“Young Czech Daniel Matejča, winner of Eurovision Young Musician 2022, picks up the baton for the next generation in this bold, impressive set. In general, Matejča favours clarity over fantasy, swinging into the opening G minor Sonata with penetrating focus and a well-controlled line… Matejča’s ‘Malinconia’ is poignant in its sheer simplicity, and there's a heroic glitter to the ‘Les furies’ finale.”
BBC Music Magazine, June 2023

“Still only a teenager, the Czech violinist Daniel Matejča has already won a number of prestigious music competitions. His set of the Sonatas is very clearly focused, brilliant yet never flashy… In the Ballade Third Sonata, he seems acutely mindful of the music’s heated emotional climate and potentially wide dynamic range… He also does wonderfully well by the Kreislerian Fourth Sonata’s finale, with its carpal twists and turns.”
Gramophone, September 2023

“The standout of the three is Czech teenager (b. 2005) Daniel Matejca’s. He is strikingly beautiful of tone and fine of balance (in the innumerable double-stops, each string gets equal weight)… All three recordings are excellent on the technical side, with differences as noted… But I’d still go with Matejca, for the sheer beauty of sound and delivery.”
American Record Guide, August 2023

“Daniel Matejca, a mere 18 years old, is far beyond his years in technical prowess and his gifts of musical interpretation… I was struck by the clarity of tone, and as I studied the score along with the recording, I was amazed at how, well, musical his interpretation is. Matejca is observant of the hemiolic rhythms peppered throughout the first sonata, and carefully, musically shapes the lines that effortlessly (on paper anyway) melt into one another. Matejca makes even the most improvisatory passages of these works sound carefully controlled, with a sense of being and purpose stamped on every note… This is a revelatory performance by a startlingly talented young virtuoso – I can’t wait to see what he does next.”
Fanfare, September 2023

“Fart d'une superbe maestria et d'une dynamique très sensuelle, le jeune Tchèque affiche un véritable goût du risque et fait preuve autant d'imagination que de charme (Ballade), offrant partout un parfum de liberté et un bel instinct des climats (Les Furies, L'Aurore). Avec une impressionnante aisance instrumentale, mais sans exhibitionnisme déplacé, son jeu affiche une intégrité stylistique qui témoigne déjà d'une belle maturité et force l'attention… Un talent à suivre.”
Classica, October 2023

“The Czech Daniel Matejča, still a teenager (b. 2005), gives one of the best performances of the set that I have heard yet (and I have a shocking number of performances by now). It’s not getting through all the pyrotechnics that makes this special (nearly everyone who records the set can do that now), but doing it with such uncommonly beautiful sound.”
Fanfare, October 2023

“Manuell offensichtlich sehr begabt, stellt er diesen faszinierend vielgestaltigen Kosmos der neueren Solo-Violinliteratur klar und präsent in den Raum. Das klingt musikalisch plau sibel und geigerisch brillant… Vielversprechend!”
Fono Forum, October 2023