Release Date: 01 December 2023
Label: C-Avi
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 4260085535354
Genres: Classical Chamber Music
Description
Within a very short time of about 10 years, Beethoven's technique of composing developed rapidly. The artists on this recording wanted to show the comparison between earlier and later pieces, and this is the basis of this new series of recordings. of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas on three volumes.
".....Weithaas and Varjon have a great deal to say and are not afraid to say it, but their focus of interest is always and emphatically Beethoven - not themselves." (MusicWeb Intern'l July 23)
Both artists are highly in demand on a worldwide scale as unique, exceptional chamber music performers: Antje Weithaas and Denes Varjon each ideally combine the highest degree of enthusiasm and precision: their energetic, passionate playing is the result of intense concentration and precision, combined with a large portion of musicality.
"In Antje Weithaas's und Denes Varjon's complete edition of these sonatas in three volumes, each individual release is designed to illustrate those stages of artistic development (instead of featuring the works in strict chronological order). From the onset, Beethoven ascribed utter importance to the principle of dialogue between the two instruments, as we can infer from a letter he wrote to Artaria on 19 June 1793.....
The current Vol. 2 release contrasts the third sonata (in E Flat Major) of the early Op. 12 group with the second and third sonatas of Op. 30. The CD begins with the C Minor Sonata Op. 30, which is undoubtedly one of the two most dramatic sonatas among all ten works in the same genre (the other one being the "Kreutzer" Sonata Op. 47). The E Flat Major sonata is also the most dramatic one within Op. 12. On the other hand, the last sonata (G Major) in Op. 30 provides a contrast in the form of a cheerful "final dance" (Kehraus), a function it also fulfils on this CD in the wake of the E Flat Major Sonata Op. 12. " (Excerpt from the booklet notes by Elisabeth Richter)
GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE, JANUARY 2024
"it's the duo's ability to characterise so imaginatively that makes these interpretations especially satisfying. […] what stands out for me on this disc is the unstudied refinements of their playing as well as their appreciation of the music's subtleties. […] Weithaas and Varjon's cycle will be one to reckon with." – Gramophone
Tracklisting
Kilian Herold, Barbara Buntrock, Florian Donderer, Tanja Tetzlaff
Kathrin Zukowski, KammerMusikKoln
Katharina Konradi, Catriona Morison, Ammiel Bushakevitz
Antje Weithaas, Denes Varjon
Premysl Vojta, Florence Millet, Ye Wu
Herbert Schuch, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
Sandrine Cantoreggi & Sheila Arnold
Nino Gvetadze
Antje Weithaas, Denes Varjon
Antje Weithaas & Denes Varjon
