Grieg is one of the world’s best known composers, but the three Violin Sonatas are a relatively unfamiliar part of his output, despite being among his own favourite pieces. Grieg never wrote a violin concerto, and the foremost Norwegian violinist of his generation, Henning Kraggerud, assisted by Bernt Simen Lund, a member of the Tromsø Chamber Orchestra, has taken up the challenge of creating three new concertos from the sonatas. In these arrangements the solo violin is set against a string orchestra augmented by wind instruments in order to retain the feel of chamber music.

Henning Kraggerud has already recorded Grieg’s three Violin Sonatas for Naxos. The prospect of three ‘new’ Grieg Violin Concertos arranged and performed by a performer “counted among the world’s most interesting and accomplished stars” (Cincinnati Enquirer) is the kind of recording event which comes along all too rarely.

Henning Kraggerud has recorded numerous titles for Naxos, including the Violin Concertos by Sibelius and Christian Sinding, which was acclaimed as “a masterly performance… warm and powerful, with a confident, wide vibrato and immaculate intonation” by Gramophone. His 'Nordic Violin Favourites' (8572827) was also a MusicWeb International Recording of the Year.