Brahms: Violin Sonatas (with works by Dietrich & Schumann)

 
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Violin Sonatas (with works by Dietrich & Schumann)
Isabelle Faust (violin) Alexander Melnikov (piano)

[ Harmonia Mundi / CD ]

Release Date: Tuesday 22 September 2015

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A 19th-century 'trio sonata'. Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov have already given us an acclaimed version Brahms's First Violin Sonata, in 2007. They now complete the cycle with the other two sonatas of 1886 and 1888, and add a fascinating rarity dating from 35 years earlier: the 'F-A-E' Sonata, a collaborative effort by three composers in honour of the great violinist Joachim, who had to guess who had written which movement! He did so with ease, for the Scherzo is as eminently Brahmsian as the Intermezzo and Finale are Schumannesque.

'The elegance of Brahms's craft is still apparent, especially his ability to create long singing melodic lines of great sweep and complexity.' (Chamber Pick of the Month BBC Music November 2015)

"The first Brahms sonata recorded by Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov on period instruments made a big impression...Melnikov's 1875 Bösendorfer piano sounds splendidly grainy, transparent and powerful, often overwhelming Faust's gut-stringed violin in Brahms's louder moments, but blending ideally in the elegiac slow movements." (The Observer)

"Melnikov's 1875 Bösendorfer piano sounds splendidly grainy, transparent and powerful, often overwhelming Faust's gut-stringed violin in Brahms's louder moments, but blending ideally in the elegiac slow movements." (The Guardian)

"Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov (playing an 1875 Bösendorfer) make a strong case for the work as a whole, though even their impassioned advocacy can't quite save Dietrich's opening movement from sounding long- winded. In Brahms's Second and Third Violin Sonatas, the players' sound world may be a little too muscularly lean for some tastes. Still, the musical argument is always lucid." (Irish Times)

International Classical Music Awards 2016 - Chamber Music Recording of the Year

Tracks:

Brahms:
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

Schumann:
Romances (3), Op. 94
F.A.E.-Sonate (Brahms/Schumann/Dietrich)

Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov perform a little Beethoven