BaL 3.07.21 - Beethoven: Violin Sonata no. 9 in A major, Op 47 "Kreutzer"

[Barbirollians]

Surely Menuhin should get a mention!

Especially the recording with his sister IMO.

I see the Mullova is available on Amazon Music if you have Amazon Prime - will have a listen now.

[kuligin]

What a contrast with last week. Burnside found so many versions he liked, no loved , and then choose a personal choice explaining why but not rejecting the others, they were praised. As were many others for whom there was no time.

Today it was obvious who would win as Kogan etc were played in order to be dismissed. Many versions were not even mentioned. Not a BAL really at all, rather a coronation.

[Alison]

What a contrast with last week. Burnside found so many versions he liked, no loved , and then choose a personal choice explaining why but not rejecting the others, they were praised. As were many others for whom there was no time.

Today it was obvious who would win as Kogan etc were played in order to be dismissed. Many versions were not even mentioned. Not a BAL really at all, rather a coronation.

A good summary. Too many elaborate adjectives as well. I’ve enjoyed some of NL’s contributions in the past but now feel she is being used too often. Ditto Katy Hamilton.

[mikealdren]

Unless I missed a bit - were Perlman, Grumiaux Heifetz and Menuhin entirely ignored.

As were Kreisler and Oistrakh. What about some of the finer modern performances too, Faust/Melnikov for example.

As for the examples considered, great to hear some voice from the distant past but they were surely overplayed and why give the perverse Mutter/Orkis so much air time. For me, the Kremer/Argerich was ruled out by the v e r y s l o w opening. The Repin/Argerich is much better.

Was the first period performance at some odd pitch it certainly jarred although period pitches often do, switching pitch doesn't work well on RR for me. Despite my reservations about HIPP, I did enjoy the Mullova version.

Pat Kop would no doubt be fun in concert but, as with her Stravinsky a few weeks ago, it's too idiosyncratic for a library choice.

Did the playback volume levels gradually drop during the programme or was it too low throughout as usual, I certainly had the volume level higher than usual by the end.

[Barbirollians]

A good summary. Too many elaborate adjectives as well. I’ve enjoyed some of NL’s contributions in the past but now feel she is being used too often. Ditto Katy Hamilton.

I can understand entirely the way BAL and Record Review has been properly rebalanced gender wise over the last few years . It used to be almost an entirely male preserve with occasional appearances by Hilary Finch .

I do wonder whether , however, there is small group of reviewers who are overused to meet some sort of gender balancing- Loges, Hamilton , Picard and Willson seem to be the reviewers of most works nowadays and like with Picard's Ma Vlast , Willson's Das Lied and this week - one sometimes doubts that they are really under the skin of the work and its recording history.

Gender balance could perhaps be better maintained by widening the number of female reviewers - Harriet Smith for example now seems rather out of favour recently. There are also Michelle Assay , Charlotte Gardner and Alexandra Coghlan who all write well for Gramophone .

It is also not difficult to believe there is also a great deal of ageism going on - many of the older reviewers are not merely reduced in appearance but now utterly sidelined - but are still writing .

[Cockney Sparrow]

Harriet Smith for example now seems rather out of favour recently. There are also Michelle Assay , Charlotte Gardner and Alexandra Coghlan who all write well for Gramophone .
It is also not difficult to believe there is also a great deal of ageism going on - many of the older reviewers are not merely reduced in appearance but now utterly sidelined - but are still writing .....

I agree very much with everything you say, a fair criticism. Overall, there seems to be a spirit of weighting exposure and recommendation to present day artists. For very good reasons they need support, especially at the moment. But it rather changes the BAL specification, as we have known and love it. Occasionally a very well informed, very insightful and authoritative reviewer will be on "the approved list" for selection and will slip through. And also a reviewer who provides/uses a decent microphone - either with R3 assistance or themselves (or goes to a studio?).

But generally its following the trend to the superficial and partial (My cynicism at play I did an internet search on "Pat Kop BBC New Generation" and it seems she wasn't so that partiality wasn't present today). We know they don't care about the views of the likes of FoR3 members - I wonder if our disapproval is becoming a badge of pride in Radio 3 echelons?

So thank goodness there is still this board and its knowledgeable members, Gramophone and other similar publications, and MusicWeb - as you say :

"...many of the older reviewers are not merely reduced in appearance but now utterly sidelined - but are still writing ."

[pastoralguy]

I didn’t learn anything new about this work from this BaL and I agree there didn’t seem to be much point in playing so much of the Mutter/Orkis recording for it to be dismissed. So many other versions could have had extracts played. And yes, I had the Hi-Fi turned up a lot higher than usual!

[Maclintick]

I believe that he recently left Classic FM as his 3-year contract came to an end and was not extended or renewed.

Then I hope he'll be reappearing on RR, perhaps with a feature on a favourite artist or composer & a conspectus of recordings.

[TitoGobbi2]

9.30 Building a Library
Natasha Loges chooses her favourite recording of Beethoven's Violin Sonata No 9 in A major, Op 47, 'Kreutzer'.

Beethoven's Violin Sonata in A major, Op 47, more commonly known simply as the Kreutzer Sonata, is one of the most technically challenging pieces in the violin repertoire. Leo Tolstoy immortalised the work in his 1889 notorious and daring novella, The Kreutzer Sonata, which was promptly censored by the Russian authorities and, a year later, prohibited in newspapers in the USA.

Beethoven composed his Kreutzer Sonata in 1803 and originally dedicated it to his friend and leading virtuoso of the day, George Bridgetower. They premiered the work together in May 1803 at Vienna's Augarten Theatre, allegedly sight-reading the entire work. Shortly afterwards, the two men fell out and Beethoven changed the dedication to the French violin pedagogue, composer and conductor, Rudolphe Kreutzer. It is said that Kreutzer himself hated the sonata and refused to play it. The dedication, however, has remained.

It is a lengthy three-movement work in which a serene Andante with variations is bookended by two fiery outer movements.

Available versions:-

Doris Adam, Karin Adam *
Frank Almond, William Wolfram
Davide Amodio, Edoardo Torbianelli *
Ursula Bagdasarjanz, Bruno F. Saladin *
Kristóf Baráti, Klára Würtz
Renato de Barbieri, Tullio Macoggi *
Paul Barritt, James Lisney
Alban Beikircher, Mathias Huth *
Nina Beilina, Naum Starkman *
Alberto Bologni, Giuseppe Bruno *
Lina Tur Bonet, Aurelia Visovan
Adolf Busch, Rudolf Serkin
Renaud Capuçon, Frank Braley
Jonathan Carney, Ronan O’Hora (SACD)
Corey Cerovsek, Paavali Jumppanen
Jorja Fleezanis, Cyril Huvé
Andrew Dawes, Jane Coop *
Bruno Delepelaire, Quatuor Zaïde
Augustin Dumay, Maria João Pires
James Ehnes , Andrew Armstrong
Mischa Elman, Joseph Seiger *
Georges Enesco, Celiny Chailley-Richez
Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov
Aldo Ferraresi, Ernesto Galdieri
Christian Ferras, Pierre Barbizet
Jorja Fleezanis, Cyril Huvé
Pierre Fouchenneret, Romain Descharmes
Zino Francescatti, Robert Casadesus
Zino Francescatti, Robert Casadesus (DVD)
Pamela Frank, Claude Frank
Joseph Fuchs, Artur Balsam
Lorenzo Gatto. Julien Libeer
Paolo Ghidoni, Marco Grisanti *
Szymon Goldberg, Lili Kraus
Ryu Goto, Michael Dussek *
Barbara Govatos, Marcantonio Barone
Erich Gruenberg, David Wilde
Arthur Grumiaux, Clara Haskil
Franco Gulli, Enrica Cavallo
Ida Haendel, Alfréd Holecek
Ida Haendel, Ilya Itin (DVD)
Chloë Hanslip, Danny Driver
Jascha Heifetz, Benno Moiseiwitsch
Jascha Heifetz, Brooks Smith *
Ragnhild Hemsing, Tor Espen Aspaas *
Ralph Holmes, Richard Burnett
Bronislaw Huberman, Ignaz Friedman
Benjamin Hudson, Mary Verney
Alina Ibragimova, Cédric Tiberghien *
Thomas Albertus Irnberger, Michael Korstick (SACD)
Thomas Albertus Irnberger, Michael Korstick (DVD/Blu-ray))
Jorgensen, Cullan Bryant *
Daishin Kashimoto, Konstantin Lifschitz *
Sarah Kapustin, Jeannette Koekkoek
Leonidas Kavakos, Enrico Pace *
Isabelle van Keulen, Hannes Minnaar
Leonid Kogan, Emil Gilels
Rudolf Kolisch, Gunnar Johanse*
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazil Say *
Denes Kovacs, Mihaly Bacher *
Fritz Kreisler, Franz Rupp
Gidon Kremer, Martha Argerich
Georg Kulenkampf, Sir Georg Solti
Hiro Kurosaki, Linda Nicholson *
Catherine Leonard, Hugh Tinney
Tasmin Little, Martin Roscoe
Lorraine McAslan, John Blakely *
Robert Mann, Stephen Hough
Yehudi Menuhin, Idil Biret
Yehudi Menuhin, Wilhelm Kempff
Yehudi Menuhin, Louis Kentner
Yehudi Menuhin, Hephzibah Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Jeremy Menuhin *
Petr Messiereur, Stanislav Bogunia
Matthias Metzger, Gerrit Zitterbart
Nathan Milstein, Eugenio Bagnoli
Nathan Milstein, Artur Balsam
Nathan Milstein, Georges Pludermacher *
Nathan Milstein, Georges Pludermacher (DVD)
Viktoria Mullova, Kristian Bezuidenhout
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lambert Orkis *
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lambert Orkis (DVD)
Tatsuo Nishie, Giuseppe Andaloro *
Takako Nishizaki, Jeno Jando
Susanna Ogata, Ian Watson
David Oistrakh, Frida Bauer
David Oistrakh, Lev Oborin
Krysia Osostowicz, Daniel Tong
Tedi Papavrami, François-Frédéric Guy
Manoug Parikian, Magda Tagliaferro
Regis Pasquier, Jean-Claude Pennetier *
Florin Paul, Olaf Dressler *
Itzhak Perlman, Martha Argerich
Itzhak Perlman, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Miron Polyakin, Abram Dyakov *
Vadim Repin, Martha Argerich
Ruggiero Ricci, Eugenis Bagnoli
Aaron Rosand, Eileen Flissler
Max Rostal, Franz Osborn
Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Wilhelm Kempff *
Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Carl Seemann
Jaap Schröder, Jos Van Immerseel
Midori Seiler, Jos van Immerseel *
Mariko Senju, Yukio Yokoyama *
Peter Sheppard Skærved, Aaron Shorr
Sayaka Shoji, Gianluca Casciol *
Leon Spierer, Ernst Gro¨schel *
Steven Staryk, John Perry
Isaac Stern, Eugene Istomin *
Josef Suk, Jan Panenka
Karl Suske, Walter Olbertz
Henryk Szeryng, Gary Graffman
Henryk Szeryng, Ingrid Haebler
Henry Szerynk, Hans Richter-Haaser *
Henryk Szeryng, Arthur Rubinstein *
Joseph Szigeti, Claudio Arrau
Joseph Szigeti, Bela Bartok
Gerhard Taschner, Walter Gieseking *
Emil Telmányi, Victor Schiøler
Henri Temianka, Leonard Shure
Jean Ter-Merguerian, Pierre Barbizet
Jacques Thibaud, Alfred Cortot 19th June 2021
Richard Tognetti, Erin Helyard
Uto Ughi, Lamar Crowson
Maxim Vengerov, Itamar Golan *
Maxim Vengerov, Alexander Markovich
Emmy Verhey, Carlos Moerdijk *
Giocconda de Vito, Tito Aprea
Elizabeth Wallfisch, David Breitman
Sidney Weiss, Jeanne Weiss
Antje Weithaas, Camerata Berlin *
Endre Wolf, Antoinette Wolf
Tatsuya Yabe, Yukio Yokoyama *
Denes Zsigmondy, Anneliese Nissen *
Pinchas Zukerman, Daniel Barenboim
Pinchas Zukerman (violin), Marc Neikrug *

(* = download only)

What does it mean when you highlight performers/recordings in either red or orange, please?

[TitoGobbi2]

9.30 Building a Library
Natasha Loges chooses her favourite recording of Beethoven's Violin Sonata No 9 in A major, Op 47, 'Kreutzer'.

Beethoven's Violin Sonata in A major, Op 47, more commonly known simply as the Kreutzer Sonata, is one of the most technically challenging pieces in the violin repertoire. Leo Tolstoy immortalised the work in his 1889 notorious and daring novella, The Kreutzer Sonata, which was promptly censored by the Russian authorities and, a year later, prohibited in newspapers in the USA.

Beethoven composed his Kreutzer Sonata in 1803 and originally dedicated it to his friend and leading virtuoso of the day, George Bridgetower. They premiered the work together in May 1803 at Vienna's Augarten Theatre, allegedly sight-reading the entire work. Shortly afterwards, the two men fell out and Beethoven changed the dedication to the French violin pedagogue, composer and conductor, Rudolphe Kreutzer. It is said that Kreutzer himself hated the sonata and refused to play it. The dedication, however, has remained.

It is a lengthy three-movement work in which a serene Andante with variations is bookended by two fiery outer movements.

Available versions:-

Doris Adam, Karin Adam *
Frank Almond, William Wolfram
Davide Amodio, Edoardo Torbianelli *
Ursula Bagdasarjanz, Bruno F. Saladin *
Kristóf Baráti, Klára Würtz
Renato de Barbieri, Tullio Macoggi *
Paul Barritt, James Lisney
Alban Beikircher, Mathias Huth *
Nina Beilina, Naum Starkman *
Alberto Bologni, Giuseppe Bruno *
Lina Tur Bonet, Aurelia Visovan
Adolf Busch, Rudolf Serkin
Renaud Capuçon, Frank Braley
Jonathan Carney, Ronan O’Hora (SACD)
Corey Cerovsek, Paavali Jumppanen
Jorja Fleezanis, Cyril Huvé
Andrew Dawes, Jane Coop *
Bruno Delepelaire, Quatuor Zaïde
Augustin Dumay, Maria João Pires
James Ehnes , Andrew Armstrong
Mischa Elman, Joseph Seiger *
Georges Enesco, Celiny Chailley-Richez
Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov
Aldo Ferraresi, Ernesto Galdieri
Christian Ferras, Pierre Barbizet
Jorja Fleezanis, Cyril Huvé
Pierre Fouchenneret, Romain Descharmes
Zino Francescatti, Robert Casadesus
Zino Francescatti, Robert Casadesus (DVD)
Pamela Frank, Claude Frank
Joseph Fuchs, Artur Balsam
Lorenzo Gatto. Julien Libeer
Paolo Ghidoni, Marco Grisanti *
Szymon Goldberg, Lili Kraus
Ryu Goto, Michael Dussek *
Barbara Govatos, Marcantonio Barone
Erich Gruenberg, David Wilde
Arthur Grumiaux, Clara Haskil
Franco Gulli, Enrica Cavallo
Ida Haendel, Alfréd Holecek
Ida Haendel, Ilya Itin (DVD)
Chloë Hanslip, Danny Driver
Jascha Heifetz, Benno Moiseiwitsch
Jascha Heifetz, Brooks Smith *
Ragnhild Hemsing, Tor Espen Aspaas *
Ralph Holmes, Richard Burnett
Bronislaw Huberman, Ignaz Friedman
Benjamin Hudson, Mary Verney
Alina Ibragimova, Cédric Tiberghien *
Thomas Albertus Irnberger, Michael Korstick (SACD)
Thomas Albertus Irnberger, Michael Korstick (DVD/Blu-ray))
Jorgensen, Cullan Bryant *
Daishin Kashimoto, Konstantin Lifschitz *
Sarah Kapustin, Jeannette Koekkoek
Leonidas Kavakos, Enrico Pace *
Isabelle van Keulen, Hannes Minnaar
Leonid Kogan, Emil Gilels
Rudolf Kolisch, Gunnar Johanse*
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazil Say *
Denes Kovacs, Mihaly Bacher *
Fritz Kreisler, Franz Rupp
Gidon Kremer, Martha Argerich
Georg Kulenkampf, Sir Georg Solti
Hiro Kurosaki, Linda Nicholson *
Catherine Leonard, Hugh Tinney
Tasmin Little, Martin Roscoe
Lorraine McAslan, John Blakely *
Robert Mann, Stephen Hough
Yehudi Menuhin, Idil Biret
Yehudi Menuhin, Wilhelm Kempff
Yehudi Menuhin, Louis Kentner
Yehudi Menuhin, Hephzibah Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Jeremy Menuhin *
Petr Messiereur, Stanislav Bogunia
Matthias Metzger, Gerrit Zitterbart
Nathan Milstein, Eugenio Bagnoli
Nathan Milstein, Artur Balsam
Nathan Milstein, Georges Pludermacher *
Nathan Milstein, Georges Pludermacher (DVD)
Viktoria Mullova, Kristian Bezuidenhout
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lambert Orkis *
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lambert Orkis (DVD)
Tatsuo Nishie, Giuseppe Andaloro *
Takako Nishizaki, Jeno Jando
Susanna Ogata, Ian Watson
David Oistrakh, Frida Bauer
David Oistrakh, Lev Oborin
Krysia Osostowicz, Daniel Tong
Tedi Papavrami, François-Frédéric Guy
Manoug Parikian, Magda Tagliaferro
Regis Pasquier, Jean-Claude Pennetier *
Florin Paul, Olaf Dressler *
Itzhak Perlman, Martha Argerich
Itzhak Perlman, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Miron Polyakin, Abram Dyakov *
Vadim Repin, Martha Argerich
Ruggiero Ricci, Eugenis Bagnoli
Aaron Rosand, Eileen Flissler
Max Rostal, Franz Osborn
Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Wilhelm Kempff *
Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Carl Seemann
Jaap Schröder, Jos Van Immerseel
Midori Seiler, Jos van Immerseel *
Mariko Senju, Yukio Yokoyama *
Peter Sheppard Skærved, Aaron Shorr
Sayaka Shoji, Gianluca Casciol *
Leon Spierer, Ernst Gro¨schel *
Steven Staryk, John Perry
Isaac Stern, Eugene Istomin *
Josef Suk, Jan Panenka
Karl Suske, Walter Olbertz
Henryk Szeryng, Gary Graffman
Henryk Szeryng, Ingrid Haebler
Henry Szerynk, Hans Richter-Haaser *
Henryk Szeryng, Arthur Rubinstein *
Joseph Szigeti, Claudio Arrau
Joseph Szigeti, Bela Bartok
Gerhard Taschner, Walter Gieseking *
Emil Telmányi, Victor Schiøler
Henri Temianka, Leonard Shure
Jean Ter-Merguerian, Pierre Barbizet
Jacques Thibaud, Alfred Cortot 19th June 2021
Richard Tognetti, Erin Helyard
Uto Ughi, Lamar Crowson
Maxim Vengerov, Itamar Golan *
Maxim Vengerov, Alexander Markovich
Emmy Verhey, Carlos Moerdijk *
Giocconda de Vito, Tito Aprea
Elizabeth Wallfisch, David Breitman
Sidney Weiss, Jeanne Weiss
Antje Weithaas, Camerata Berlin *
Endre Wolf, Antoinette Wolf
Tatsuya Yabe, Yukio Yokoyama *
Denes Zsigmondy, Anneliese Nissen *
Pinchas Zukerman, Daniel Barenboim
Pinchas Zukerman (violin), Marc Neikrug *

(* = download only)

Joseph Szigeti, and Bela Bartok for me - an extraordinary pairing!
If pushed for a modern version, I'm currently listening to the complete sonatas played by Paul Barritt and James Lisney...and their Kreutzer is wonderful.

[vinteuil]

What does it mean when you highlight performers/recordings in either red or orange, please?

... that highlighted in red is the reviewer's final top choice ; the orange indicates an 'honourable mention', a recording the reviewer also valued highly

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

What does it mean when you highlight performers/recordings in either red or orange, please?

It’s explained here:

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?20151-BaL-recommendations

[smittims]

I suppose it was the history of domestic music making and publishing which led to the gradual change from the baroque sonata where the solo violin is accompanied (e.g. Biber) to the classical work where the pianist is dominant and the violinist secondary ; many piano trios were like that, the cello being even less prominent or independent . The 'Kreutzer' is surely one of the first works to see the re-emergence of the violin as soloist, with all its legacy in the romantic era: hence its popularity with virtuoso fiddlers.

With so may fine versions and the possibility of different approaches I'd find it impossible to select one, though for me personally Menuhin/Kentner, Grumiaux/Haskil and Schneiderhan/Kempff are classics. And I've a soft spot for Bronislav Huberman and Ignaz Friedman (said to be his only chamber music recording): two out-and-out eccentrics determined to go their own way, as if nothing else would have occurred to them . I'd love to have been at the sessions.

It's a pity Kreisler's recording dates from what was virtually the end of his career, when his playing was in decline.

[pastoralguy]

Does anyone have an opinion about the orchestrated version of the Kreutzer Sonata? I’ve listened to a couple of recordings but remain unconvinced partly because I am so familiar with the original version.