"The repertoire we chose for this album consists mainly of music that has accompanied me since my childhood." After listening to them on long drives in the family car, Johan Dalene learned them and then played them at competitions and concerts. Now he is giving listeners (and himself) a treat, continuing the tradition of great violinists such as Heifetz, Perlman and Vengerov, who have all made recordings of popular encores and concert pieces. Finally recording them himself proved to be an "extremely inspiring and challenging project", says Dalene. The program is based on three virtuoso works, Tzigane (Ravel), Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (Saint-Saëns) and Carmen Fantasy (Waxman), alongside more reflective pieces by Massenet, Tchaikovsky, De Falla and Kreisler. Also included is a rarely performed miniature by Swedish composer Amanda Maier - a work that Dalene says is "a jewel full of spirit". A program that celebrates the many sides of the violin, sometimes virtuosic, sometimes lyrical, always seductive.