Kalina Macuta and Daniel Blanch serve up a concert performance
of Beethoven’s two most popular and in turn demanding sonatas
for violin and piano. The “Kreutzer”dedicated as
a second choice to the French violinist and teacher Rodolphe
Kreutzer, is one of the most involved and taxing of Beethoven’s
ten such compositions. The “Spring” so named for
its lyrical first movement and its sprightly but scant scherzo
is
arguably the most popular thanks in part to its abundance of
pretty tunes. While such a pairing has the potential for a most
satisfying recital, there is also the danger that less than stellar
performances will grate on the ear. Alas, that is what is on
offer in this release from Columna Classics.
Things get off to a pretty bad start from the first bar. Ms.
Macuta’s fairly chilly tone is not helped by a very dry
and boxy acoustic. The Kreutzer opens with an unusually long
and complex movement, beginning with a slow unaccompanied solo
that sets a serious mood for the rest of the work. Ms. Macuta
stomps through the music will precious little finesse. At times
she growls on the lower strings producing a tone that barely
resembles pitch. In her upper register, intonation problems mar
the sound, and often there seems to be no connection between
her and her collaborator. They are noticeably out of sync on
more than one occasion.
The theme and variations gets better treatment, but one wants
a good deal more emotional commitment - subjective as such a
comment may be - than comes to the fore. It is as if both musicians
are breathing a sigh of relief that this slower music is easier
to keep together. The finale is more accurate but no more beautiful
to listen to with more grunting sounds produced from a harsh
digging at the strings in the lower registers.
The “Spring” comes off sweeter, but there are so
many exemplary performances from which to choose of this music
that
this release begs the question, “Why bother?”. There
is just not enough rewarding music-making here to justify the
outlay of cash. Add to the mix annoying and unnecessary applause
at the end of each work and the project is pretty much dead in
the water.
Side note: for a most evocative performance of the first movement
of
The Kreutzer, visit British violinist Jack Liebeck’s
website.
He and Katya Apekisheva serve up a brilliant performance in a
2002 film directed Tim Meara, based on the Tolstoy story “Kreutzer
Sonata”.
As preferable alternatives try Pinchas Zukerman and Mark Neikrug
for
The Spring on RCA667888 or Vadim Repin and Martha
Argerich in
The Kreutzer on DG966302.
Kevin Sutton
Kalina Macuta (violin); Daniel
Blanch (piano) 
