Mozart and Beethoven were the same age when they wrote the pieces assembled here. The tempestuous enthusiasm of their 27 years of age clearly shines in this music. Indeed, their youth and vitality sparkle, but so does also the incandescent youth of the pianoforte, which had finally reached its full potential. To this we may add a youthfulness of style and aesthetics, continuously inventing and reinventing themselves, searching new codes and opposing recent fashionable trends.
The first half of the XVIIIth century, which had promoted the violin to the rank of royal ambassador of its instrumental music, imposed for a long time everywhere in Europe and particularly with French and Italian composers-violinists, the corellian model of the sonata for violin solo and basso continuo. The second half of the century will crown the pianoforte, imposing its rule after its irrepressible dominance over the harpsichord in the 1780ies and offering a new expressive palette to chamber music as well as to the piano sonata.
A new facet of a violinist crosses the discovery of a new talent at the keyboard; a disc not to be missed!...
KV 380 - Allegro
KV 380 - Andante Con Moto
KV 380 - Rondo Allegro
KV 454 - Largo - Allegro
KV 454 - Andante
KV 454 - Allegretto
Op. 12 N° 1 - Allegretto Con Brio
Op. 12 N° 1 - Tema Con Variazzioni. Andante Con Moto
Op. 12 N° 1 - Rondo Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 32 in B flat major, K. 454
I. Largo - Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegretto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op. 12, No. 1
I. Allegro con brio
II. Theme and Variations: Andante con moto
III. Rondo: Allegro
May 2011
“This promises much and delivers amply. Fans of Hélène Schmitt will not be in the least disappointed: her performance here is magnificent and consistently exciting. Her approach is extremely forthright, even aggressive in the Mozart works. She clearly relishes a good dig into the strings; her playing is tonally rich and her phrasing full or variety...The flexibility of their ensemble playing is apt and effective.”
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