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Schumann: Violin Sonatas
Brilliant Classics

Schumann: Violin Sonatas

$8.99 Only 3 left

Details

Composer
SCHUMANN, ROBERT
Artist
Cortesi, Venturi
Format
CD
Label
Brilliant Classics
Released
Sep 25, 2015
Catalog #
BRI95076
UPC
5028421950761

About

Written with typical haste in just five days - 12-16 September 1851 - and burning with the fire of inspiration, Schumann's First Violin Sonata Op.105 expresses the composer's interior tension with particular clarity, moving between the drive and doubt which he encapsulated with two mock-literary archetypes, Florestan and Eusebius. All three violin sonatas date from the years shortly before his breakdown, attempted suicide and subsequent committal to the asylum at Endenich where he spent his last days, forbidden to compose and deprived of his beloved Clara's company. That is not to say that the first two sonatas are in any way weak works, even if Schumann himself commented with the deadpan irony usually more associated with his young friend Brahms, 'I don't care for the first violin sonata, so I wrote a second, which I hope has turned out better'. Whatever the motivation, it is certain that Schumann, in spite of his fragile psychological condition, found creative energy to complete another impassioned chamber work in a very short time. As in the first sonata, in this work the febrile expressive and introverted language seems to escape from the typical style of the salons to a restless expression even in the slow movement, where violin and piano converse in an incessant and obsessive way. This is even more true of the densely polyphonic Third Sonata, which perhaps more than the previous two reveals the demons at Schumann's shoulder, but the composer's particular gift for the swift movement of chamber music lifts all the sonatas from the intricately circular movement which afflicts the heavier textures of other late music for larger forces such as the Mass. The pianist Marco Venturi contributes fine booklet notes to this new recording, in which he is partnered by Andrea Cortesi; this is their second recording for Brilliant Classics, following a disc which could hardly be more different in tone or aesthetic, of music by Philip Glass, Giya Kancheli and Erkki-Sven Tüür (BC94814). These wonderful violin sonatas, written a few years before his death in an asylum, belie the dictum that "Schumann started as a genius, and ended as a talent". These are works by a passionate genius, highly original, full of feverish energy, childlike wonder and contemplation. Included are the sonatas Op.105 and 121, as well as the posthumous sonata in A minor WoO27. Played with total commitment, in imaginative and improvisatory style, true to Schumann's flights of fancy and romantic spirit, by two Italian musicians, Andrea Cortesi and Marco Venturi, who recorded to international critical acclaim works by Kancheli, Tüur and Glass for Brilliant Classics (BC94814).

Tracklist 11 tracks

  1. 1 I. Mit Leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck 07:57
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Mit Leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck
    Duration
    07:57
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  2. 2 II. Allegretto 04:05
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Allegretto
    Duration
    04:05
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  3. 3 III. Lebhaft 05:25
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Lebhaft
    Duration
    05:25
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  4. 4 I. Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft 13:28
    Track
    4
    Title
    I. Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft
    Duration
    13:28
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  5. 5 II. Sehr lebhaft 04:58
    Track
    5
    Title
    II. Sehr lebhaft
    Duration
    04:58
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  6. 6 III. Leise, einfach 05:44
    Track
    6
    Title
    III. Leise, einfach
    Duration
    05:44
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  7. 7 IV. Bewegt 09:31
    Track
    7
    Title
    IV. Bewegt
    Duration
    09:31
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  8. 8 I. Ziemlich langsam - lebhaft 07:46
    Track
    8
    Title
    I. Ziemlich langsam - lebhaft
    Duration
    07:46
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  9. 9 II. Intermezzo: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell 02:57
    Track
    9
    Title
    II. Intermezzo: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell
    Duration
    02:57
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  10. 10 III. Scherzo: Lebhaft 03:23
    Track
    10
    Title
    III. Scherzo: Lebhaft
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi
  11. 11 IV. Finale: Markirtes, ziemlich lebhaftes Tempo 07:24
    Track
    11
    Title
    IV. Finale: Markirtes, ziemlich lebhaftes Tempo
    Duration
    07:24
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Andrea Cortesi, Marco Venturi