Beethoven's Violin Sonatas - recommendations, please

[Guest]

I only have one Beethoven violin sonata - Faust/Melnikov in the Kreutzer sonata, which is paired with Faust/Belohlavek/Prague Philharmonia in the Violin Concerto.

Courtesy of Nice Guy Caliban, I have the most recent BaL on the sonatas (October 2010) in which Faust/Melnikov came out as the top recommendation. However, it's one of those Harmonia Mundi releases that remains pricey.

I think I'm more inclined to a HiP performance rather than a 'traditional' performance drowning in vibrato.

Jos van Immerseel/Midori Seiler cycle was finished this year and sounds interesting for HiP. Aline Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien did a live cycle at the Wigmore Hall. The recent collaboration between Mullova and Bezhuidenhout (Sonatas 3 & 9) was well-received and may be the start of a full "traversal", as McG would say.

Anyway, over to you.

[amateur51]

I only have one Beethoven violin sonata - Faust/Melnikov in the Kreutzer sonata, which is paired with Faust/Belohlavek/Prague Philharmonia in the Violin Concerto.

Courtesy of Nice Guy Caliban, I have the most recent BaL on the sonatas (October 2010) in which Faust/Melnikov came out as the top recommendation. However, it's one of those Harmonia Mundi releases that remains pricey.

I think I'm more inclined to a HiP performance rather than a 'traditional' performance drowning in vibrato.

Jos van Immerseel/Midori Seiler cycle was finished this year and sounds interesting for HiP. Aline Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien did a live cycle at the Wigmore Hall. The recent collaboration between Mullova and Bezhuidenhout (Sonatas 3 & 9) was well-received and may be the start of a full "traversal", as McG would say.

Anyway, over to you.

Don't let fear of vibrato put you off at least listening to the wonderful set by Arthur Grumiaux and Clara Haskil, throppers. It's available on Spotify and here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Violin-Sonatas-Ludwig-van/dp/B000OPPSX0/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1355743360&sr=1-1

Hours of delight

[Thropplenoggin]

Don't let fear of vibrato put you off at least listening to the wonderful set by Arthur Grumiaux and Clara Haskil, throppers. It's available on Spotify and here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Violin-Sonatas-Ludwig-van/dp/B000OPPSX0/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1355743360&sr=1-1

Hours of delight

Thanks, Ams.

This set still seems to cast it shadow over all subsequent recordings. I shall attempt to listen with non-judgemental ears this afternoon.

[ostuni]

Hang the expense and go for Faust/Melnikov! Wonderfully imaginative playing (repeats - all taken - are always taken as an opportunity to try something a little differently). I am another who is absolutely allergic to too much vibrato: Faust is (as you'll already have heard in the Kreutzer) great in this respect: vibrato as a conscious act of expression, applied selectively rather than continuously.

I like Ibragimova's Bach (possibly more than Faust's, though I haven't done any detailed listening to the latter), but whenever I've listened to movements of Ibra/Tib, they've impressed me much less than F/M. Indeed, F/M in the violin sonatas, rather like Wispelwey/Lazic in the cello sonatas, seem to me an order of magnitude more imaginatively played than anything I've heard elsewhere.

[Bryn]

I only have one Beethoven violin sonata - Faust/Melnikov in the Kreutzer sonata, which is paired with Faust/Belohlavek/Prague Philharmonia in the Violin Concerto.

Courtesy of Nice Guy Caliban, I have the most recent BaL on the sonatas (October 2010) in which Faust/Melnikov came out as the top recommendation. However, it's one of those Harmonia Mundi releases that remains pricey.

I think I'm more inclined to a HiP performance rather than a 'traditional' performance drowning in vibrato.

Jos van Immerseel/Midori Seiler cycle was finished this year and sounds interesting for HiP. Aline Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien did a live cycle at the Wigmore Hall. The recent collaboration between Mullova and Bezhuidenhout (Sonatas 3 & 9) was well-received and may be the start of a full "traversal", as McG would say.

Anyway, over to you.

Of the Midori/Immerseel CDs, I only have Op. 12. It is very good indeed. However, if you are looking to save money, Immerseel's earlier set with Jaap Schroeder can be found at the tax dodgers' French marketplace for just €10.88 including p&p. There is a similarly low price available for UK orders via their UK site. You pays your money ... .

http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1992/eirv19n47-19921127/eirv19n47-19921127_046-music_views_and_reviews.pdf

[Thropplenoggin]

Hang the expense and go for Faust/Melnikov! Wonderfully imaginative playing (repeats - all taken - are always taken as an opportunity to try something a little differently). I am another who is absolutely allergic to too much vibrato: Faust is (as you'll already have heard in the Kreutzer) great in this respect: vibrato as a conscious act of expression, applied selectively rather than continuously.

I like Ibragimova's Bach (possibly more than Faust's, though I haven't done any detailed listening to the latter), but whenever I've listened to movements of Ibra/Tib, they've impressed me much less than F/M. Indeed, F/M in the violin sonatas, rather like Wispelwey/Lazic in the cello sonatas, seem to me an order of magnitude more imaginatively played than anything I've heard elsewhere.

Thanks for the detailed response, Ostuni. Very interested to hear your thoughts on the Faust/Melnikov set. I commented on Faust's Bach here. It's won plaudits all over the place, including on last weeks "Critics Choice" edition of CD Review, where the gushing continued. Rarely, however, is there a mention of just how closely the violin was recorded, including the distracting "heavy breathing" of Faust.

I wasn't aware of the Wispelway/Lazic cello sonatas - another one I shall be investigating.

---

Thanks for the info and link, Bryn. I'll see if this other Immerseel set is available on Spotify or Qobuz.

[teamsaint]

I knew I had missed something off my list to Santa !
Oh well, birthday just around the corner......

[Bryn]

Thanks for the detailed response, Ostuni. Very interested to hear your thoughts on the Faust/Melnikov set. I commented on Faust's Bach here. It's won plaudits all over the place, including on last weeks "Critics Choice" edition of CD Review, where the gushing continued. Rarely, however, is there a mention of just how closely the violin was recorded, including the distracting "heavy breathing" of Faust.

I wasn't aware of the Wispelway/Lazic cello sonatas - another one I shall be investigating.

---

Thanks for the info and link, Bryn. I'll see if this other Immerseel set is available on Spotify or Qobuz.

Are you aware of Wispelwey's earlier set with Paul Komen, on historical instruments. A fine complement to the later set (on modern instruments) with Lazic.

[Thropplenoggin]

Are you aware of Wispelwey's earlier set with Paul Komen, on historical instruments. A fine complement to the later set (on modern instruments) with Lazic.

No. That's new to me as well.

On the later recording with Lazic, someone on Amazon complains of an "audible electric buzz". Seems like rather a major slip-up for the sound engineer to do this on an SACD!

[amateur51]

I agree with Bryn's advocacy of Peter Wispelwey and while we're so firmly off-topic may I also suggest an investigation of his three recordings of J S Bach's solo cello suites? (available on Spotify)

We live at a wonderful time of performance diversity & availablity of choice

[DublinJimbo]

I'll join the endorsements of Faust/Melnikov.

I'd also suggest Supraphon's recent re-mastering of Josef Suk's set with Jan Panenka (recorded in 1966).

I know you specified a preference for HIP, but both these sets are rather special despite their unHIPness.

[gurnemanz]

I remembered a discussion on the old BBC Board. Still out there in cyberspace.

[Andrew Preview]

I only have one Beethoven violin sonata - Faust/Melnikov in the Kreutzer sonata, which is paired with Faust/Belohlavek/Prague Philharmonia in the Violin Concerto.

I enjoyed Faust/Melnikov in the Kreutzer - a gripping, full-blooded performance. But, pleasant as it is, I had niggling doubts about the rest of the set - sometimes it feels reined in, sometimes mannered. And then there's the close-miked recording with persistent sniffing! I have complete cycles from Ibragimova/Tiberghien and Perlman/Ashkenazy. I have to say that Ib/Tib's readings strike me as wholly convincing - unforced interpretations that make the music sound newly minted (if you'll excuse that over-used phrase). Perlman/Askenazy are very fine too, but not for vibratophobes.

[MickyD]

The Schroder/Immerseel set from Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, as already mentioned by Bryn, is a lovely cycle if you like HIP. Immerseel's Graf piano has a beautifully ethereal sound about it. And the set can be had (3CDs!) on Amazon UK for around £7:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Sonatas-Fortepiano-Ludwig-van/dp/B0030BYU5M/ref=sr_1_13?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1355748937&sr=1-13

[verismissimo]

... wonderful set by Arthur Grumiaux and Clara Haskil, throppers...

Ordered, thanks, am.