Brahms - Violin Sonata 3 [Mutter/Weissenberg]Anne-Sophie Mutter was a 19 year old teenager at the time of this recording, i think her youth shows, i don't know how much she practiced these works with Weissenberg, but i find certain unthought out passages, there's parts which don't gel together right, i'm sure they weren't regular partners, and it shows, however i still find this performance illuminating, i have lots of recordings of these Sonatas, my favourite is Itzhak Perlman with Ashkenazy, but these are well worth hearing.
The only Violin Sonata of Brahms to be composed in a minor key, and it shows in the opening bars, darker and troubling undercurrents ripple across the surface, even the sweet adagio which follows is in fact bittersweet, full of pathos, the last two movements are agitated and hard driven, a masterpiece by Brahms.
As Mutter approaches near to her fiftieth year, hopefully she will record these Sonatas again, and we will be able to hear what new thoughts she has gained in the interim.
You can hear her on YouTube playing the first movement, with Weissenberg on Piano.
