Ludwig van Beethoven

"Bite and Passion should persuade others to perform Walton’s Sonata. The Sonata emerges as a fair match for other great British string pieces - Elgar's introduction and Alegro and Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia,for example - so I hope this new recording will encourage more live performances of a work which neatly spans the gap between the early Walton,passionate and electrifing,and his later refined and carefully considered style." Edward Greenfield - Gramophone

“Arrangements for string orchestra of works originally written for string quartet are not uncommon, especially in the cases of Beethoven and Schubert… But in the amazing scherzo, with its huge climax not long before the movement's end, the extra weight makes a substantial and thrilling difference. And in the slow third movement... there is an organ-like solemnity added by the basses, and that needs the supplementary upper strings to get the proper balance. The Walton piece... is a complete success, making the piece sound as if it had originally been conceived for string orchestra.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2006 ****

“As the booklet asks, why Beethoven and Walton? The answer is, the Walton has become a favourite work with this superb Dutch ensemble and it was felt appropriate to couple it with another arrangement of a string quartet, the last Beethoven wrote. Walton made the imaginative arrangement of his A minor Quartet at the prompting of Neville Marriner, who wanted a work for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.The arrangement of the Beethoven by Marijn van Prooijen similarly adapts the original without inflating it.
As the booklet-note says, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta aim to preserve the intimate character of the works. In this they contrast their approach to that of Bernstein and the VPO (DG), in which he uses a full body of strings. With the Amsterdam players showing the give-and-take, ebb-and-flow of small chamber groups, they achieve rare refinement and natural warmth.
The bite and precision of the Amsterdam account is most impressive, with the rhythmic lift of the Scherzo and of the finale after the ominous opening bringing a joyful lightness.
Yet it is the sublime Lento slow movement which achieves the greatest heights in playing of hushed dedication. This new version of the Walton is more intimate than the LPO fullstrings Chandos rival. It is true that Walton freely sets the full ensemble in contrast with passages for solo strings, as at the very start, but the Amsterdam performance brings out that terracing of sound more clearly, helped by the refined recording. As in the Beethoven, the heart of the performance comes in the lovely Lento movement.
The Sonata emerges as a fair match for other great British string pieces – Elgar's Introduction and Allegro and Vaughan Williams's Tallis Fantasia, for example. It's a work which neatly spans the gap between the early Walton, passionate and electrifying, and his later refined and carefully considered style.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The arrangement of the Beethoven by Marijn van Prooijen… adapts the original without inflating it. The bite and precision of the Amsterdam account is most impressive, with the rhythmic lift of the Scherzo and of the finale after the ominous opening bringing a joyful lightness. Yet it is the sublime Lento slow movement which achieves the greatest heights in playing of hushed dedication. This new version of the Walton is more intimate than the LPO full-strings Chandos rival. As in the Beethoven, the heart of the performance comes in the lovely Lento movement.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2006

“The first movement of the big C major Sonata is conceived very much on orchestral lines with a dramatic variety of colouring and characterisation, as well as an unexpected use of the sustaining pedal in the broken octave passage. Throughout this finely recorded set, Schiff highlights plenty of musical details that tend to be bypassed by other artists, and for this reason his performances deserve an enthusiastic recommendation.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2006 *****

“…Schiff's acute attention to Beethoven's subito dynamics and inner voices brings unusual intensity to passages such as the syncopations in the development section of Op 2 No 1's first movement. For breathtaking variety of articulation, listen to Op 2 No 2's Largo appassionato, where the staccato bass notes are duly short yet more resonant than usual, or the marked contrast between the Rondo's songful outer sections and vehement central minor-key episode.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2005