Sunday 22 May 2011

Clever of Brahms to have designed his three sonatas for violin & piano so they fit comfortably on to one CD (and, in the case of the present recording by Arabella Steinbacher and Robert Kulek, with room for the FAE scherzo as well).

Steinbacher adopts leisurely tempi, as is the wont nowadays. I still worry that her violin sounds better in its lower registers than in the upper, though the Pentatone recording is exemplary, as so often with this company. Kulek accompanies loyally (although he thumps from time to time) but no one is going to buy this CD to listen to Kulek's pianism.

A worthy CD, with attractive sounds. Steinbacher is an intelligent violinist and always sounds good. Perhaps, however, someone could persuade artists and recording companies to give Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms a rest, for a few decades; there are innumerable fine CDs of Brahms' three sonatas and it would be good to hear a violinist of Steinbacher' stature in Hubay, Myaskovsky, Vieuxtemps, Spohr, et al.

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