Brahms - Violin Sonata 1 [Belkin/Dalberto]
Well this individual disc of the Brahms Violin Sonatas is developing into a real little treasure, it was early in my Blog when i wrote about this same Sonata with Belkin [3rd February 2010], this is getting some really decent disc player workouts.
Boris Belkin is Russian, born in 1948, he recorded this disc in 1994, the front and back photos [by Xavier Voirol] are excellent, showing Belkin and Dalberto in action, a nice use of red and blue colours too, it's a joy to own this disc.
The first movement is just so soothing, it's marked Vivace, and at first you wonder when you hear those piano chords and the gentle violin tune, is it going to 'explode' into a Vivace?, the transition is actually a gentle one, i love the way the piano chimes and tinkles away [0:25+], the violin develops a lyrical beauty [1:24+], that just naturally becomes rapt and intense [1:34+], really grabs me by the heartstrings, Brahms uses string pizzicato for the violin in such a clever way [3:29-3:48] with the piano carrying a simple melody, and the violin carrying that same melody in soaring / searing intensity [4:22+],
Here's Itzhak Perlman playing the first movement on YouTube.
