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C.V. STANFORD Violin Sonatas 1 and 2, Caoine , Five Characteristic Pieces   Paul Barritt (violin); Catherine Edwards (piano) Hyperion CDA67024 [75.41]

 


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This richly melodious event of a CD must be celebrated as much for the performances as for the music.

The soloists here are making a name for themselves in their recordings of rare British music. Their previous Hyperion CDs of the complete Howells and Ireland have already attracted plaudits. They now add a further tile to the mosaic with this Stanford collection.

The music is not especially Irish (at least not to modern ears). Its signposts and maps are all ones associated with the high midday of the romantic era. Schumann and Dvorák, Brahms and Beethoven give some impression of the styles you encounter.

The playing is zestful and full of life. These performances do not at all come over as dry-as-dust run-throughs. Every piece is a freshly conceived event in its own right.

The second sonata which survives only in a copyists score may well have been dedicated to Enrique Arbós who was the dedicatee of Stanford's Violin Concerto Op. 74. Surely it cannot be long before the Violin concerto is recorded? Paul Barritt (leader of the English Chamber Orchestra) would make an excellent pioneer for the piece.

The scholarly but readable notes are by Jeremy Dibble who fortunately avoids overabundant technicalities and instead gives us a vivid account of the music and biographical context.

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

Reviewer

Rob Barnett



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