Oldenburg Newspaper

Do you have to warn against music about which a violinist declares: “She has discovered tones and sounds, that they think don’t exist on the violin?” The danger of shock is obvious with contemporary music – but not when it is by Violeta Dinescu. The Oldenburg composer’s sounds can be quite unbridled, but they are moving and convincing and still surprising. The Romanian-born artist, who worked at the Oldenburg University from 1996 to 2021, presents two new recordings. Irina Muresanu, the violinist quoted, plays the work for solo Violin; Katharina Desemo performs works for solo cello. The music is technically and emotionally extremely demanding and yet remains catchy.

On the one hand, the music created between 1982 and 2023 is agreeable with the listener, on the other hand it provokes them. This is brilliantly balanced without seeming contrived. For all the complexity of her music, Dinescu doesn’t technically falter. But it also doesn’t devalue the decodings through banalities.

—Horst Hollomann