Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770 - 1827)
The Sonatas for Piano and Violin
CD1 [77.31]
Sonata No 1 D Major. Op.12 No 1 [22.21]
Sonata No 2 A Major. Op. 12 No 2 [17.23]
Sonata No 3 E Flat Major. Op. 12 No 3 [19.42]
Sonata No 8 G Major. Op. 30 No 3 [17.51]
CD2 [81.04]
Sonata No 4 A Minor. Op 23 [17.16]
Sonata No 5 F Major. Op. 24 "Spring" [21.45]
Sonata No 9 A Major. Op 47 "Kreutzer" [41.53]
CD3 [76.55]
Sonata No 6 A Major. Op 30 No 1 [24.04]
Sonata No 7 C Minor. Op 30 No 2 [27.17]
Sonata No 10. G Major. Op 96 [25.25]
Wilhelm Kempff (piano) Wolfgang
Schneiderhan (violin)
Recorded Konzerthaus, Mozartsaal, Vienna. Sept 1952 ADD MONO Recordings
DGG Originals 463 605-2
[235.30]
Crotchet £17.99
Amazon
UK £19.99
This is a bulk purchase. All 10 Sonatas for Piano and Violin, as the composer
himself chose to refer to them, on three CDs played by two of the 20th century's
leading Beethoven performers. They were recorded in mono at sessions in September
1952 and the three disc box - now in DG's The Originals Series - is
being issued to mark Wolfgang Schneiderhan's eighty-fifth birthday.
Although a great admirer of the two players as individuals this set is new
to me. They were not regular partners on the platform but the two men were
brought together by Deutsche Grammophon for the studio recordings. Kempff,
of course has recorded the Piano Sonatas magificently and made heart-warming
discs of the Piano Concertos. Coincidentally earlier today I was playing
(just for pleasure - nothing to do with a revue) Shneiderhan's towering
performance of the Beethoven Concerto (Eugen Jochum / Berlin Philharmonic).
This is the version in which Schneiderhan uses his own re-writing of Beethoven's
cadenzas that he wrote for the Piano version of the Concerto and which make
a "and now for something completely different" statement. Kempff went on
to make a highly regarded set of the Sonatas with Yehudi Menuhin in the seventies
and these later recordings were later chosen by DG when selections were needed
for compilation releases. No doubt too, the Marketing people had a view that
stereo is always better then mono. Hence the Schneiderhan / Kempff recordings
have been out of the catalogue for years.
The set is splendid - two great performers playing great music and as such
it inevitably must have a strong recommendation. These are bench-mark recordings
from the older school of central European scholarship that now qualify as
historical. They are poised and structured with the precision and clarity
of the duo's individual contributions notable - almost fastidious at times
but without losing any of the writing's power and emotion. Most people will
dip into the set and perhaps try at first the two named works - the
Spring and the Kreutzer - and will undoubtedly like what they
hear (just try the Adagio from the Spring Sonata). There is
a great sense of logic in the music and this sense of line, of development,
is strongly felt throughout.
If there is a failing it would be in the recording balance that has the piano
behind a prominent violin and one is aware that this is an early fifties
recording.
Reviewer.
Harry Downey
