Beethoven - Violin Sonata 9 'Kreutzer' [Vengerov/Markovich]
This is a great disc, bringing together the best Violin Sonatas by Brahms and Beethoven [or at least my favourites!], i think it's a great coupling, even though it's an unusual one, i count ten versions of this work in my disc collection, i must have listened to this work 120 times, and it still always amazes me, what a work of pure genius Beethoven has made here, i am actually quite shocked to find this disc has never featured in my Blog before!.
Maxim Vengerov is Russian, he's now 41, he recorded this disc in 1991 at the unbelievable age of 17, the front booklet photo [by Klaus Thumser], shows Vengerov in a tight head shot, almost a silhouette, and Vengerov busy with his violin, the lettering to the left is really good.
The whole of this work was superb, but i really loved the first movement, it's in the key of A Major, even though it certainly sounds like it's a Minor key work, the movement is Presto, but the intro is Adagio Sostenuto [0:00-1:32], the violin sounding screechy and out of tune [on purpose by Beethoven], the violin and piano take it in turns to set the tone, the movement only really gets going on the two minute mark [2:06+], and it's a mix of fast virtuoso music, and more slower lyrical stuff, Vengerov & Markovich really let fly after a few minutes [3:18-4:23], the intensity of their playing is tremendous, and Beethoven never lets up, the music is relentless, the difficulty of the fast passages [5:02-5:39], are compensated by the beauty of the lyrical passages, Beethoven loves these pizzicato moments from the violin, each new fast moment gets more intense [6:15-7:20], the interplay is fantastic [8:41-8:59], especially from the Pianist Markovich, the preciseness at times is really quite thrilling [10:22-11:01], there's anger aplenty between both players [11:36-12:47], it really is a tour de force, and even with the reflective coda at the end, Beethoven can't resist an angry flourish to end the movement on.
Here's Kremer & Argerich playing this Sonata on YouTube.
Maxim Vengerov is Russian, he's now 41, he recorded this disc in 1991 at the unbelievable age of 17, the front booklet photo [by Klaus Thumser], shows Vengerov in a tight head shot, almost a silhouette, and Vengerov busy with his violin, the lettering to the left is really good.
The whole of this work was superb, but i really loved the first movement, it's in the key of A Major, even though it certainly sounds like it's a Minor key work, the movement is Presto, but the intro is Adagio Sostenuto [0:00-1:32], the violin sounding screechy and out of tune [on purpose by Beethoven], the violin and piano take it in turns to set the tone, the movement only really gets going on the two minute mark [2:06+], and it's a mix of fast virtuoso music, and more slower lyrical stuff, Vengerov & Markovich really let fly after a few minutes [3:18-4:23], the intensity of their playing is tremendous, and Beethoven never lets up, the music is relentless, the difficulty of the fast passages [5:02-5:39], are compensated by the beauty of the lyrical passages, Beethoven loves these pizzicato moments from the violin, each new fast moment gets more intense [6:15-7:20], the interplay is fantastic [8:41-8:59], especially from the Pianist Markovich, the preciseness at times is really quite thrilling [10:22-11:01], there's anger aplenty between both players [11:36-12:47], it really is a tour de force, and even with the reflective coda at the end, Beethoven can't resist an angry flourish to end the movement on.
Here's Kremer & Argerich playing this Sonata on YouTube.
