Symbiosis

Album with pianist Dina Ivanova.

In 2019 Merel released her debut album Symbiosis together with pianist Dina Ivanova. The album includes their absolute favourite Sonata for violin and piano: the Franck Sonata. They combine this Sonata with compositions by two female composers: Poldwoski (daughter of the famous composer Henryk Wieniawski) and Mathilde Wantenaar.

Poldowski wrote her Sonata for violin and piano at a time when women weren’t allowed to vote. She had a very interesting life, especially for a woman of her time; she travelled across Europe as a concert pianist, designed haute-couture for the British Royal Family and wrote
beautiful late-romantic compositions. The Sprookjes (fairytales) by twenty-five-year-old composer Mathilde Wantenaar were written about a century later.