Weiner: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2

Leó Weiner's legacy as an educator influenced generations of Hungarian musicians for a half century. His early work as a composer was internationally acclaimed for its new engaging sound, resulting from a unique synthesis of German and French Romanticism allied to a Hungarian musical language. These chamber works with piano are some of the best of his early opuses, from the 'classical nobility and deep poetic substance' of the Ballade, to the dramatic and stunningly beautiful Violin Sonata no.2 - two pieces that were popular and widely performed in their day.

This recording is an excellent reflection of Leó Weiner's remarkable early success as a composer, with each work premiered by notable musicians and sometimes received to a stampede of acclaim. On its premiere the Ballade, op.8, was 'rewarded with a thunderous ovation, and they had to play the whole ballad again', which is a rare reaction both in 1912 and now. Weiner's essentially conservative nature as a composer saw him overtaken in the 20th century by more progressive names, but this need not prevent us from appreciating his remarkably fine music today.

This release follows on from our album of Leó Weiner's First Violin Concerto (Naxos 8574707) that appeared in November 2025, also with violinist Júlia Pusker. Our catalogue also has Weiner's complete orchestral music on 3 discs and his great symphonic poem Toldi (Naxos 8573847).

Csaba Klenyan (clarinet)
Julia Pusker (violin)
Ditta Rohmann (cello)
Istvan Kassai (piano)