Release Date: 22 January 2021
Label: Challenge Classics
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 0608917286021
Genres: Classical Chamber Music
Description
The first volume in a new complete survey of Beethoven's Piano and Violin Sonatas from the Foyle-Stsura Duo.
Michael Foyle: Exploring these Sonatas in 2020 took on a deeper significance beyond the anniversary celebrations. Recording all ten in Mechelen, Belgium, the home of Beethoven's paternal ancestors, with much of the world's population in isolation, his works revealed new layers of emotional intensity and psychological relevance.
The Op. 12 Sonatas belong to the last decade of the eighteenth century, a period when Beethoven was conquering Vienna as the foremost keyboard virtuoso of the day but simultaneously seeking to have his compositions published for the first time. In essence, classical duo sonatas for piano and strings had grown from the eighteenth-century 'accompanied' sonatas, in which the string instrument provided a supportive role to the keyboard's dominating textures. Here we witness a gradual incorporation of a 'dramatic dialogue' (to borrow Simon P. Keefe's term) between instruments which had previously been more important in concerto writing. Beethoven's Sonata No. 5 in F major Op 24 is described by musicologist Angus Watson as 'an exquisite testament to Beethoven's profoundly religious feeling for the natural world.'
The Foyle-Stsura Duo released a disc for Challenge in 2018 devoted to Sonatas written at the time of WWI (CC 72786).
"Foyle's playing is remarkable in its accuracy, tonal focus and impressive range of musical options." - BBC Music Magazine
Tracklisting
Narratio Quartet
Piano Duo Scholtes & Janssens
Matteo Cicchitti, Musica Elegentia
Cappella Pratensis, Stratton Bull, Sollazzo Ensemble
La Sfera Armoniosa, Oscar Verhaar, Mike Fentross
Simona Marchesi, Bartolomeo Dandolo Marchesi
Ben Kim, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend
Michael Foyle & Maksim Stsura
Michael Foyle & Maksim Stsura
Michael Foyle & Maksim Stsura
