Beethoven's Violin Sonatas - recommendations, please

[Thropplenoggin]

Thanks for the recommendation. I have those in this box:

Give the first movement of the Kreutzer a whirl...I was transfixed from first to last. Thrilling stuff.

[Thropplenoggin]

Ferras is a stonkingly impressive fiddler in my opinion (and Barbizet is a wonderful piano partner in these and many other sonatas), throppers but sadly committed suicide before he reached 50.

How terrible!

[Don Petter]

Ferras is a stonkingly impressive fiddler in my opinion (and Barbizet is a wonderful piano partner in these and many other sonatas), throppers but sadly committed suicide before he reached 50.

Agreed! And for some of these other sonatas don't miss this 4CD set (for under £9), which I can heartily recommend:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Brilliant%2BClassics/93791

Don't be misled by a quick look at the contents of the box on that page - All the snippets are on the fourth CD, the first three have full sonatas by Franck, Lekeu, Brahms and Schumann, all with Barbizet.

[amateur51]

Agreed! And for some of these other sonatas don't miss this 4CD set (for under £9), which I can heartily recommend:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Brilliant%2BClassics/93791

Don't be misled by a quick look at the contents of the box on that page - All the snippets are on the fourth CD, the first three have full sonatas by Franck, Lekeu, Brahms and Schumann, all with Barbizet.

Heartily agreed, Don Petter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ZBqZNBuaA

[amateur51]

[QUOTE=MickyD;236525]

My recollections of that set as mentioned on the old boards were somewhat negative at the time. Thanks to MickyD I returned to the set. It was so much better than I remembered.QUOTE]

It was originally savaged many years ago in Gramophone, but I'm glad it has found new friends - the recording is very fine, to my ears.

On your recommendation I managed to find a single CD a couple of years ago, MickyD. Having enjoyed those performances I'm now grateful for the chance to here more from this duo - many thanks

[Barbirollians]

I think trying to recommend one version of his sonatas for violin and piano is as difficult as recommending one version of his symphonies - Perlman/Ashkenazy- Menuhin/Kempff, Mutter /Orkis, Kremer/Argerich , Francescatti/Casadesus and Faust /Melnikov have all given me great pleasure and I would not want to be without any of them .

[Thropplenoggin]

Still umming and ahing over the Faust/Melnikov set. Perhaps some of the musically astute members of the board could assess this critique from the BBC Music Magazine review of the discs:

Particularly fine is their account of the profoundly original last sonata, Op. 96. Melnikov and Faust allow its opening movement to unfold in leisurely fashion, and in an atmosphere of hushed lyricism, though their decision to append a ‘turn’ to the ubiquitous trill that forms such an integral part of the main subject’s melodic line may not be to everyone’s taste.

I’m not so sure, however, that Beethoven would necessarily have approved of the occasional spontaneous change Faust and Alexander Melnikov make to some of the other sonatas: a few little melodic ornaments and alterations, the occasional exaggerated pause between phrases, the mannerism of ‘rolled’ left-hand piano chords, the reversal of dynamics in the repeats.

How heinous are these interpretive gestures, especially No.10's trill?

[gurnemanz]

I think trying to recommend one version of his sonatas for violin and piano is as difficult as recommending one version of his symphonies - Perlman/Ashkenazy- Menuhin/Kempff, Mutter /Orkis, Kremer/Argerich , and Faust /Melnikov have all given me great pleasure and I would not want to be without any of them .

If I want to play the Spring - which I do quite often - I will tend to take Francescatti/Casadesus off the shelf. It never fails to delight.

[Barbirollians]

A recent purchase for me following the recent ZF thread - and I agree a complete joy.

[Ferretfancy]

So many to choose from, and I'd certainly not want just one set. Could I also recommend the very first recording of the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas ? That's by Fritz Kreisler and Franz Rapp, recorded in 1935-6 and avaialble in fine Ward Marston remasterings on Naxos.

Of course the style is very different to today's but do hear them, they represent an age.

[gurnemanz]

Some may be holding their horses for this keenly anticipated Greek event

[rkyburz]

Still umming and ahing over the Faust/Melnikov set. Perhaps some of the musically astute members of the board could assess this critique from the BBC Music Magazine review of the discs:

How heinous are these interpretive gestures, especially No.10's trill?

... if one is looking for criticism, there's always the ubiquitous "hair in the soup", and OK, that trill is the start of the theme, hence rather prominent. I don't have access to that BaL, but it's true that among the 7 recordings that I have of op.96, Faust/Melnikov are the only ones appending a turn to the trill, and the score doesn't appear to ask for a turn — however, I must say, I actually prefer the theme with the turn — feels more "natural" to me! If you are dogmatic, then Faust/Melnikov are probably not the ideal choice anyway, as they add one or the other ornament here and there. I can't tell what is "right" — what matters for me is whether the music "speaks" to me or not — and from that perspective, my clear preference goes with Faust/Melnikov or (where available, op.96 isn't, unfortunately) Mullova/Bezuidenhout, or Kremer/Argerich. About the trill: one could state with András Schiff: the fact that everybody plays the same version doesn't automatically imply that this version is necessarily correct, or the only possible / legitimate way of playing (Schiff was talking about the Beethoven piano sonatas, of course, in his comment series at Wigmore Hall).

[akiralx]

Re. the Wispelwey/Lazic set of cello and piano works, when listening via speakers I don't hear the electronic buzz mentioned in an amazon.com customer review referred to by Thropplenoggin. I will try via headphones and report back.

[Ah, if I work really hard at it I can hear a very quiet sound in the ambient which might just about be described as an "audible electric buzz" via headphones. I suppose it might disturb someone who has only ever experienced music via recordings, and never in 'live in concert'. It is there, but only impinges very slightly, and only when neither piano nor cello is actually producing sound. I am certainly not bothered by it.]

I listen to the Wispelwey/Lazic SACD set via Stax headphones exclusively and have never heard a hum, so if it is there it is basically inaudible...

[Thropplenoggin]

... if one is looking for criticism, there's always the ubiquitous "hair in the soup", and OK, that trill is the start of the theme, hence rather prominent. I don't have access to that BaL, but it's true that among the 7 recordings that I have of op.96, Faust/Melnikov are the only ones appending a turn to the trill, and the score doesn't appear to ask for a turn — however, I must say, I actually prefer the theme with the turn — feels more "natural" to me! If you are dogmatic, then Faust/Melnikov are probably not the ideal choice anyway, as they add one or the other ornament here and there. I can't tell what is "right" — what matters for me is whether the music "speaks" to me or not — and from that perspective, my clear preference goes with Faust/Melnikov or (where available, op.96 isn't, unfortunately) Mullova/Bezuidenhout, or Kremer/Argerich. About the trill: one could state with András Schiff: the fact that everybody plays the same version doesn't automatically imply that this version is necessarily correct, or the only possible / legitimate way of playing (Schiff was talking about the Beethoven piano sonatas, of course, in his comment series at Wigmore Hall).

Thanks, rkyburz. Much food for thought in what you right, though I know I'd be irked as a composer by such a prominent part of op.96 being distorted in this way.

I'm surprised you didn't mention either of Jos van Immerseel's versions (one with Jaap Schroeder, the other with Midori Seiler) as I'd have thought their HIP approach would be right up your Strasse.

Following Bryn and MickyD's recommendation, I have gone for Immerseel/Schroeder for the bargain price of €8.39 + p&p, my last purchase of 2012. I have added Barbizet/Ferras to my wishlist, while I hunt down a good s/h copy with just the violin sonatas (it's currently paired with Tortelier in the cello sonatas, and I'm really not a fan of the latter!)

Thanks for all the suggestions, links and comments.

[MickyD]

Happy listening, Thropplenoggin....I am confident you will like the Schroeder/Immerseel set; this one has a much more pleasing resonant recording than the newer Immerseel version. And that is a wonderful bargain price for 3 CDs. Let us know your thoughts when you hear it.