Bach Busoni Beethoven

Yuuko Shiokawa and András Schiff are heard here in an insightful - and delightful - programme of sonatas for violin and piano which begins with Bach's Sonata No.3 in E major, ends with Beethoven's Sonata No.10 in G major, and has at its centre Busoni's Sonata No. 2 in E minor. No other 20th century composer was as deeply steeped in the music of Bach as Ferruccio Busoni, and his second sonata, published in 1901, is indebted to both Bach and Beethoven. Its form makes references to Beethoven's late sonatas, and the final movement incorporates as its variation theme Bach's chorale "Wie wohl ist mir". As on their earlier and widely-admired duo recording for ECM (featuring Schubert Fantasies), Shiokawa and Schiff play the music with absolute authority and deep understanding. Their Bach-Busoni-Beethoven programme was recorded in Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in December 2016, and produced by Manfred Eicher.