MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW
RECORDING OF THE MONTH


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS MDT

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Violin Sonata no.9 in A major Op.47 'Kreutzer' [37:45]
Violin Sonata no.10 in G major Op.96 [27:28]
Edward Dusinberre (violin)
David Korevaar (piano)
rec. 6-9 August 2009, Wyastone Concert Hall, Wye Valley, UK. Stereo. DDD
DECCA 476 3898 [65:13]

Experience Classicsonline

This is a great recording. Beethoven's Violin Sonatas have been cursed in recent years with more than their share of mediocre recordings, but this certainly is not one them. The performance is excellent, both technically precise and interpretively insightful, and the recording quality is the best you'll find anywhere short of SACD.

Edward Dusinberre is the leader of the Takács Quartet, and while his colleagues are no doubt in a similar league, this solo outing demonstrates just why that group has the superlative reputation it does. His playing here is varied, richly felt, emotive, expansive ... there is really very little you could want from him that he does not do at some point on the disc. Given the recent trend for period performance recordings of Beethoven's chamber music, it is probably worth pointing out that this is in a more traditional vein. It's Romantic Beethoven, which some may object to in principle, especially for the middle period Kreutzer, but Dusinberre is not arguing a case here, rather he is demonstrating the validity of his interpretation, and few could argue with the results.

I love the way that both players are able continually to come up with surprises, especially in such well known works. Take, for example, the transition from the introduction to the exposition about a minute and a half into the first movement of the Kreutzer. The introduction itself is performed with such precise, studied control that it lulls you into thinking the whole movement is going to continue at that pace. But then the main theme just erupts out on nowhere, bringing with it that sense bubbling energy and ebullient joy. There is no trickery going on here, and nothing is really added that is not already in the music, but the players are able to demonstrate that beneath Beethoven's imposing furrowed-brow reputation of genius, his greatest music is founded on simple pleasures.

The 10th Sonata Op.96 is a similar case. If anything, this performance is even more direct and unaffected. It is a more straightforward work, I think, so this approach is entirely appropriate. But here again the players are able to take even the most seasoned (and cynical?) listener by surprise. The coda of the first movement has a short figure repeated over and over until a final iteration at a louder dynamic. When that last one comes, it is as if the players themselves have been taken by surprise. But don't take that for naivety; there are plenty of episodes which have clearly been meticulously prepared, with the dynamics and phrasing articulating impressively large-scale thinking. The development of the first movement of the Kreutzer is all based on long crescendos and diminuendos, with various permutations of the main theme going on over the top. The players achieve an impressive juggling act in maintaining the drama of the former while laying out the almost mathematical logic of the latter.

The sound quality is excellent throughout, the robustness of the violin tone elegantly matched by the similarly imposing piano sound. There is a real immediacy to the sound, which really benefits both players. The varied timbres and dynamics of the piano are particularly impressive, especially in combination with the finely judged balance, which allows all that piano detail to act as a backdrop to the violin without ever threatening to overpower.

Are Dusinberre and Korevaar planning a full Beethoven Sonata cycle? Let's hope so, because if they can maintain this phenomenal standard, it could easily become the benchmark for a generation to come.

Gavin Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.