Isabelle Faust - Brahms: Violin Sonatas Op.100 & 108 on CD

Description

Product Description A 19th-century trio sonata . Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov have already given us an acclaimed version Brahms s First Violin Sonata, in 2007. They now complete the cycle with the other two sonatas of 1886 and 1888, and add a fascinating rarity dating from 35 years earlier: the F-A-E Sonata, a collaborative effort by three composers in honour of the great violinist Joachim, who had to guess who had written which movement! He did so with ease, for the Scherzo is as eminently Brahmsian as the Intermezzo and Finale are Schumannesque. Review SUNDAY TIMES ALBUM OF THE WEEK 'Schumann s Three Romances, Op 94, show that composer nearer to his best, but it s Faust and Melnikov s impassioned, hyper-musical accounts of the Opp 100 and 108 Brahms sonatas, among his greatest late masterpieces, that make this disc an unmissable sequel to their earlier recordings of the First Sonata (Op 78) with the Horn Trio. After their outstanding set of the Beethoven sonatas, this disc confirms them as an ideally matched duo at the height of their powers.' --Hugh Canning The Sunday Times, 23rd August 2015 'The FAE performance is strikingly successful, avoiding any suggestion of a disparate and possibly unequal work ... The Brahms sonata performances are sharply etched and full of detailed expressive insights ... Some listeners may find Melnikov s style too forceful and hard edged...but it all contributes to the vivid, compelling character of these performances ... altogether, these are enthralling, lovely performances.' --Duncan Druce Gramophone, October 2015 **** 'Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov (playing an 1875 Bösendorfer) make a strong case for the work as a whole, though even their impassioned advocacy can t quite save Dietrich s opening movement from sounding long- winded. In Brahms s Second and Third Violin Sonatas, the players sound world may be a little too muscularly lean for some tastes. Still, the musical argument is always lucid.' --Michael Dervan Irish Times, 21st October 2015