BaL 19.11.22 - Grieg: Violin Sonata no. 3

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

91030 am
Building a Library

Katy Hamilton with her pick of recordings of the last and greatest of Edvard Grieg’s three violin sonatas, written when the composer was living in Troldhaugen in 1886-7

Available versions:-

Pierre Amoyal, Frederic Chiu *
Pierre Amoyal (violin), Mikhail Rudy *
Paolo Ardinghi, Bruno Canino *
Arnold Belnick, Adrian Ruiz *
Alessio Bidoli, Stefania Mormone *
Gerard van Blerk, Theo Olof *
Yuri Bushagin, Bernardo Santos *
Daniela Cammarano, Alessandro Deljavan
Renaud Capuçon, Khatia Buniatishvili
Timothy Chooi, Takashi Sato
Guillaume Combet, Sandra Carlock
Duo526 *
Duo Cammarano-Deljavan *
Augustin Dumay, Maria João Pires *
Mischa Elman, Joseph Seige *
Bronislaw Gimpel, Wladyslaw Szpilman *
Kai Gleusteen, Catherine Ordronneau
Federico Guglielmo, Jolanda Violante *
Jascha Heifetz, Emanuel Bay *
Ragnhild Hemsing, Tor Espen Aspaas *
Eldbjørg Hemsing, Simon Trpceski
Julia Hwang, Charles Matthews
Anna Im, Ilya Rashkovskiy *
Leila Josefowicz, John Novacek *
David Kadouch, Alexandra Soumm
Oleg Kagan, Vladimir Skanavi *
Dong-Suk Kang, Roland Pöntinen
Leonid Kogan, Grigory Ginzburg *
Henning Kraggerud, Helge Kjekshus
Fritz Kreisler, Sergey Rachmaninov
Maya Levy, Matthieu Idmtal
Marcia Henry Liebenow, Antonio Pompa-Baldi
Natalia Lomeiko, Olga Sitkovetsky *
Geir Inge Lotsberg, Einar Steen-Nøkleber
Harriet Mackenzie, Christina Lawrie
Yehudi Menuhin, Robert Levin
Egon Morbitzer, Michael Stockigt *
Lydia Mordkovitch, Elena Mordkovitch *
Takako Nishizaki , Jeno Jando
Franziska Pietsch, Detlev Eisinger
Gérard Poulet, Yori Kawashima *
Trond Saeverud, Einar Røttingen
Vineta Sareika, Amandine Savar
Benjamin Schmid, Ariane Hearing
Sergiu Schwartz, Rachel Franklin *
Toscha Seidel, Arthur Loesser *
Hagai Shaham, Arnon Erez
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Bella Davidovich *
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Lukas Geniu�as
Josef Suk, Josef Hála
Christian Svarfvar, Helge Kjekshus
Gerald Tarack, David Hancock
Terje Tonnesen, Einar Henning Smebye
Ingolf Turban, Jean-Jacques Dünki *
Elena Urioste, Tom Poster
Carlos Villa, Luc Devos*
Alexander Vinnitsky, Vladimir Ovchinnikov *
Camilla Wicks, Robert D. Levin *
Markus Wolf, Julian Riem
Rafal Zambrzycki-Payne, Carole Preland *
Denes Zsigmondy, Anneliese Nissen *

* = download only

[CallMePaul]

I don't know this work at all, nor either of the earlier sonatas for that matter (pity that all three are not being considerd, but then not all the listed combinations may have recorded the full set). I am surprised that there are so many recordings, evin if many of them are download only. Unfortunately a trip to London next weekend means that I will probably miss this one; if I were buying "blind", I would probably choose a recording from a Scandi violinist and/or pianist on a "horses for courses" basis.

[mikealdren]

Listen on catchup, it's a great work and very much in the international repertoire so, although Scandi players have it in their blood, don't limit yourself. I first got to know it through the Grumiaux Hadju recording - marvellous but it seems nla.

[richardfinegold]

I don't know this work at all, nor either of the earlier sonatas for that matter (pity that all three are not being considerd, but then not all the listed combinations may have recorded the full set). I am surprised that there are so many recordings, evin if many of them are download only. Unfortunately a trip to London next weekend means that I will probably miss this one; if I were buying "blind", I would probably choose a recording from a Scandi violinist and/or pianist on a "horses for courses" basis.

Ditto for me. I’ve streamed it a few times after having heard it being referred to as a masterpiece and never retain any interest

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Other versions exist:-
Violin and orchestra
Flute and piano
Cello and piano

[Opinionated Knowall]

Unfortunately the first movement is largely built on a motif which is almost identical to a TV advertising jingle from the 70s for Heinz Beans. Impossible not to hear 'Don't be mean with the beans, Mum'. Well it is for me, anyway!

[Master Jacques]

All three sonatas are terrific works! I got to know the 3rd through Josef Suk's passionate reading with Hála, and have loved that one ever since. It's available for sure in the big Supraphon J. Suk box set (and perhaps elsewhere), but I would urge listeners not to forget his much later - more reflective - 1997 recording of the complete Grieg sonatas, with Susan Kagan on Koch Classics.

[Pulcinella]

Apart from the usual suspects (PC, Holberg Suite, Peer Gynt, Sigurd Jorsalfar), I'm not familiar with any other of Grieg's output except the Piano Sonata, which I used to be able to play!
I see that the Cello Sonata is on a BBC MM CD, so I might try that to see if it stirs my interest.

[Master Jacques]

Apart from the usual suspects (PC, Holberg Suite, Peer Gynt, Sigurd Jorsalfar), I'm not familiar with any other of Grieg's output except the Piano Sonata, which I used to be able to play! ...

Gracious me, you must have been good! Apart from knowing some of his chamber works, such as this 3rd Sonata, I was alerted to Grieg's true greatness by Einar Steen-Nøkleberg's complete (14 CD) set of the piano works on Naxos. The many Lyric Piece sets are variable, and inclined to salon ease; but the folk dance realisations (e.g. Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances Op.17 and Op.66, and most of all the Slåtter Op.72) are up there with Bartók for revolutionary rhythmic and harmonic power. Wow!

[Pulcinella]

Gracious me, you must have been good! Apart from knowing some of his chamber works, such as this 3rd Sonata, I was alerted to Grieg's true greatness by Einar Steen-Nøkleberg's complete (14 CD) set of the piano works on Naxos. The many Lyric Piece sets are variable, and inclined to salon ease; but the folk dance realisations (e.g. Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances Op.17 and Op.66, and most of all the Slåtter Op.72) are up there with Bartók for revolutionary rhythmic and harmonic power. Wow!

Oh! Maybe I'm misremembering how much I was able to play, as it was a long time ago!
Only Grade 8 and A Level (though the set pieces for that were the Brahms Op 117 Intermezzi, which I DID find difficult!).

[gurnemanz]

I'm sure the BaL reviewer will have listened to all 60-odd recordings listed. I have only one, with the formidable duo of Sergei Rachmaninov and Fritz Kreisler. I acquired it coincidentally as part of the 10CD RCA Rachmaninov as performer collection. Recorded in Berlin in 1928, it still sounds great with stylish playing, some violin swoops and sound balance slightly favouring the violin.

They performed together a lot but there are only three joint recordings. The Beethoven Violin Sonata Op. 30 No. 3 and Schubert Grand Duo for Violin and Piano in A Major D574 are also on the disc with the Grieg. I notice that the recent Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Lukas Geniušas disc pays homage to these classic Rachmaninov/Kreisler recordings by including the same works. https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...r-rachmaninoff

[Master Jacques]

I'm sure the BaL reviewer will have listened to all 60-odd recordings listed.

Where was your tongue situated when you wrote this, gurnemanz? I mean, we are talking Katy Hamilton here, who might possibly be too busy lolling around the (Amy) Beach to listen to more than one recording of anything. We live in hope.

[Mal]

After sampling a few, I stuck with a random choice - Svarfvar/Kjekshus - who held me rapt throughout, a great performance from these young Norwegians in wonderful (2014) sound. Andrew Clark in the FT:

"I had never previously rated Grieg’s three sonatas for violin and piano, probably because I had never heard them in such committed, thoroughbred performances as these by Swedish violinist Christian Svarfvar. Lighter than the Brahms sonatas, sweeter than Schumann’s, they have been consigned for too long to the edges of the repertoire, and it takes a musician with a special understanding of the Norwegian composer’s melodic fantasy to open our ears to music of such balmy charm and vitality... Grieg’s romantic cantabile rides on such a fluent variety of ideas that listening to all three sonatas in quick succession is pure pleasure, buoyed by Svarfvar’s fearless expression, rock-solid technique and stylistic acumen. This gifted violinist has done us – and Grieg – a big favour, and we must hear more from him."

[BBMmk2]

Grieg, is not a composer I would normally hear, for preference but this might help!

[Barbirollians]

I don't know the work but was quite charmed by listening to the Grumiaux /Hadju version on You Tube today.