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Janáček - Brahms - Bartók / Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazil Say

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Details

Composer
Bela Bartok, Johannes Brahms, Leos Janacek
Artist
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazil Say
Format
CD
Label
Alpha
Released
Jan 13, 2023
Catalog #
ALPHA885
UPC
3760014198854

About

There is no piece of music that the Patricia Kopatchinskaja cannot play in a way that unwinds your expectations and forces you to hear it anew.

This new recording marks the reformation of the legendary duo of Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Fazil Say. The Moldovan violinist says the Turkish pianist ‘is a volcano, with an indomitable strength and energy’, while he emphasizes the ‘freedom’ that her ‘spontaneous playing’ exudes: ‘At each concert, she creates a different character and tells a new story.’ The explosive duo presents a program devoted to Bartók’s Violin Sonata no.1 (‘a marvel from start to finish, one of his finest works’, says Patkop), Brahms’s D minor Sonata (‘I imagine a feather in flight at the opening of the sonata’) and Janáček’s Sonata, ‘an extreme work, wounded and heart-rending’.

REVIEW:

There is no piece of music — works by Tchaikovsky or Schoenberg, or an old folk tune — that the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja cannot play in a way that unwinds your expectations and forces you to hear it anew. So it is with the latest chapter in her partnership with the intrepid Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say. The Janacek sonata that opens this recording and the Bartok Sonata No. 1 that closes it clearly play to the duo’s strengths: curiosity, an impatience with convention and exceptional technique. They pounce, almost too eagerly, on each of the Janacek’s lightning-quick mood changes; and in the Bartok, a piece in which the two instruments work virtually at cross purposes, they achieve an ESP-like mutual responsiveness.

Their rendition of Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, however, is the paramount achievement here. Resisting the urge to swath this wistful music in a big luxuriant tone, Kopatchinskaja adopts a timbre that’s sometimes bristly, sometimes gossamer-light. She and Say push the music to extremes: The quiet moments seethe and the outbursts approach violence, but it’s all done with impeccable control. The piece sounds bereft and heartbroken even as it avoids the clichés of Romanticism. It’s not the way I’d want to hear it played every time, but it’s invaluable for offering a glimpse deep into a work you might have thought predictable, which is exactly what these imaginative musicians are after.

-- New York Times (David Weininger)

Tracklist 11 tracks

  1. 1 I. Con moto 05:23
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Con moto
    Duration
    05:23
    Composer
    Leoš Janáček
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  2. 2 II. Ballada: Con moto 05:03
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Ballada: Con moto
    Duration
    05:03
    Composer
    Leoš Janáček
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  3. 3 III. Allegretto 02:27
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Allegretto
    Duration
    02:27
    Composer
    Leoš Janáček
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  4. 4 IV. Adagio 05:02
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Adagio
    Duration
    05:02
    Composer
    Leoš Janáček
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  5. 5 I. Allegro 07:47
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    07:47
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  6. 6 II. Adagio 04:09
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Adagio
    Duration
    04:09
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  7. 7 III. Un poco presto e con sentimento 02:43
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Un poco presto e con sentimento
    Duration
    02:43
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  8. 8 IV. Presto agitato 05:22
    Track
    8
    Title
    IV. Presto agitato
    Duration
    05:22
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  9. 9 I. Allegro appassionato 13:05
    Track
    9
    Title
    I. Allegro appassionato
    Duration
    13:05
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  10. 10 II. Adagio 10:56
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Adagio
    Duration
    10:56
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say
  11. 11 III. Allegro 10:17
    Track
    11
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    10:17
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazıl Say