Beethoven - Violin Sonata 5 [Szeryng/ Haebler] I played this disc last month [9th April 2011], the truly inspiring Ninth Sonata, the Fifth is Beethoven's next best Violin Sonata, compared to the later work it's brief, but Beethoven can work wonders on a smaller canvas too, as i said last month, this disc cost a fortune, and yet it's still working out to be a bargain!.
Henryk Szeryng was Polish, born in 1918 and died in 1988, he made this recording in 1979, i like these 'Silver Line Classics' by Philips, supposedly a medium priced series, but they have fairly extensive booklets, and are real quality, Nikita Magaloff's Chopin Etudes comes to mind here, the photo is by Bonnie Rauch.
The whole Sonata was a revelation today, especially the slow second movement, Szeryng and Haebler really fit together like hand in glove, Haebler is the more revolutionary, more expert in the tension side of things, while Szeryng is sweet and lyrical, bringing a depth of real passion, he's an unassuming player, not forceful at all, but lets Beethoven do the talking, he may at times sound low key, but long term it pays back, he surprises me how really deep he can play [2:40-3:12], especially at [2:57, 3:21 & 3:41], Haebler reminds us that these are not merely Violin Sonatas, but rather Sonatas for Violin and Piano, though her real forte can be found in the more extrovert movements, a lovely Violin Sonata.
Here's Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich playing the second movement on YouTube.
