MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Grand Sonata op.121 for violin and piano (1851/52) [34:40]
Sonata op.105 for piano and violin (1852) [18:13]
Sonata in A minor WoO 2 (1853) for violin and piano [23:02]
Ensemble Villa Musica: (Nicolas Chumachenco (violin); Kalle Randalu (piano))
rec. 23-24 November 2009, Ackerhaus der Abtei Marienmünster
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM MDG 304 1647-2 [76:09]

Experience Classicsonline

There is no big announcement or list of planned releases documented here, but this is labelled as ‘Schumann: Chamber Music vol. 1’, so we can hope for a nice juicy series from MDG to follow.

Schumann’s violin sonatas are somewhat in the shadow of many of his other works, but they do have plenty of the characteristics which give his work its appeal and deserve plenty of recognition. The programme here begins with the Grand Sonata op.121, which Schumann was working on while negotiations for the publication of the Op.105 sonata were in progress. After Schumann’s death the work was tarred with the brush of prejudice, seen as the product of an increasingly diseased mind and too extreme to be anything other than a failure in performance. Listening today one can hear the striking sense of original thinking in this piece, which, while perhaps less thematically memorable, is certainly a match and a challenge for Brahms’ compositions in this genre. The first movement is nearly quarter of an hour of unrelenting intensity, with all of the rich pianistic writing which makes this piece a true duo and not merely a violin work with piano accompaniment. The central two movements are more compact, the Sehr lebhaft keeping up the demanding nature of the first movement with further dark harmonic brooding. The following Leise, einfach, lightens the mood a little as promised, with the pizzicato violin being stalked by a stealthy piano, an opening section which turns into a gorgeous set of variations. The final movement Bewegt is a dramatic but triumphant statement whose rondo form has a remarkable cumulative effect.

The Sonata Op.105 is closely related in terms of period to the Op.121 sonata, and has a similarly vital sense of intense inventiveness and emotional inventiveness. The mention of the piano before the violin in the title is no mistake, and not unique in this genre, following in a line traceable to Mozart and Beethoven. This equality of status between the instruments is a further crystallisation of those earlier examples, and Schumann’s contribution is rightly pointed out in Joachim Draheim’s booklet notes as a forerunner to the romantic heights of the later 19th century with the works from Brahms to César Franck and beyond. Thematic connections are present throughout the Op.105 sonata, but whether these come across subliminally or with intellectual directness the actual music is filled with charm, especially the Allegretto central movement, which is like a cinematic panning shot between various conversations. The final movement can be seen as a gesture in Bach’s direction, but also has plenty of dance-like energy to go with the imitative counterpoint.

To conclude there is the Sonata in A minor, which was originally a collaborative effort in which Schumann was joined by the younger Brahms and his protégé Albert Dietrich, resulting in the so-called ‘FAE–Sonata’. Dietrich was responsible for the first movement, Schumann for the Intermezzo and Finale, Brahms contributing the penultimate Scherzo. Schumann began replacing the other composer’s work, and while it is not entirely clear from the booklet notes this is now entirely Schumann’s own work. Hindsight and knowledge of this work’s history can lead one to blithely apply words such as ‘flawed’ or ‘uneven’, but even as Schumann’s powers waned his natural gift as a composer and personal individuality of style are still potent and present, wiping a myriad of lesser and entirely healthy composers off the board.

There is a deal of distinguished competition in this repertoire, though with a read of the review I am confident this recording with Ensemble Villa Musica is more attractive than that with Alberto Bologni and Giuseppe Bruno. Carolin Widmann and Dénes Várjon on ECM are perhaps more realistic competitors, though tastes with regard to recording perspective may influence the choice here. This MDG disc has a very nice balance, perhaps a little more piano relative to the violin might have been preferred, but then the risk is run of the recording becoming too heavy with the weight of notes coming from the piano part, so this is not really a criticism. Both Nicolas Chumachenco and Kalle Randalu play with superb musicality, showing plenty of light and shade, a deep sense of commitment and communication. The recording itself is clear and direct, without being too close, the relationship between instruments and acoustic is ideal. With Schumann, my feeling is always that the ‘bravura’ is in the essence of the music, and too much extra ladled on by the players – pianist in particular – is something which will render the bigger-boned movements too hectic. This is most certainly not the case here. I admire both performers’ sympathy with Schumann’s idiom.

Dominy Clements

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.