Beethoven - Violin Sonatas 2, 4 & 9 | C-AVI AVI8553512

Beethoven - Violin Sonatas 2, 4 & 9

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Label: C-AVI

Cat No: AVI8553512

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 5th May 2023

Contents

About

Both highly in demand on a worldwide scale as unique, exceptional chamber music performers, Antje Weithaas and Dénes Várjon each ideally combine the highest degree of enthusiasm and precision: their energetic, passionate playing is the result of intense concentration.

In volume one of their complete recording of Beethoven's violin sonatas, Weithaas and Várjon have chosen not to follow chronological order, but to seek out thrilling contrast and fascinating variety instead - thus making Beethoven's rapid evolution as a composer all the more astounding. Volume 1, featuring op.12 no.2, op.23, and op.47, revolves around the tonal centre of A major/A minor.

All movements in these three sonatas are "in A", except for the middle movement in the Kreutzer Sonata, which is in F major. All three works follow tradition in terms of general structure: they are in three movements, with rapid outer movements in sonata or rondo form surrounding a slower middle movement that tends to be melodious.

For Beethoven, however, such a link with tradition could only serve as a springboard for innovation.

We can thus clearly trace the astounding transformation of Beethoven's style between the second and the second-to-last violin sonata, particularly since both are in A major.

Reviews

the adventurous spirit Weithaas and Várjon convey here makes me eager to hear future instalments.
Gramophone
Humour, wit, playfulness – they all explode into life in the artful hands of Antje Weithaas and Denes Varjon. […] crucially, these are very much shared performances. We are not listening to a star violinist with piano accompaniment but two minds discussing, sometimes arguing ferociously over the same issues. Their attention to detail is the kind that really grips the ear, right from the opening of Op. 12 No. 2
BBC Music Magazine June 2023
Certainly Weithaas and Várjon need fear no competition. In technical terms they cannot be faulted. Weithaas’ tone in particular has an appealing mixture of warmth and purity, her vibrato is well controlled, and her intonation – to my ears at least – is faultless. […] Weithaas and Várjon have a great deal to say and are not afraid to say it, but their focus of interest is always and emphatically Beethoven – not themselves.
MusicWeb International

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