Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 'Spring'

When listening to these recordings one feels his sense of rhythm and timing and the unforced, natural sound that is Endre Wolf’s hallmark. His timing in the last movement of the Mozart Concerto or the stunning rendering of the Tchaikovsky Concerto are wonderful examples of this. He plays fast and clear but is never in a hurry. His timing is immaculate.

Ralph Holmes was one of the leading violinists of his generation. This release aims to supplement the small Holmes repertoire on CD and catch him at the height of his powers. With the exception of the Bartok (which appears here courtesy of Decca), the performances were made for the BBC in the 1980s and are previously unpublished, displaying Holmes’ versatility as an artist.

When Beethoven died early in 1827, it is said that 10,000 people attended his funeral. Famed for the brilliance of his piano and symphonic works, he also played the violin and viola and wrote 10 sonatas for violin and piano. Of these, the F major (Op. 24) 'Spring' and the A Major (Op.47) 'Kreutzer' are the most celebrated.

On The Kreutzer Sonata and other works Leonard and Tinney perform these sonatas with a mix of skill and feeling which comes from lives utterly devoted to music making. The 'Spring' sonata, so called because of the way the music gently unfolds at the beginning, is a testament to the composer's own love of nature. The 'Kreutzer' sonata has long been seen as one of the great challenges in chamber music repertoire; a challenge that Catherine Leonard and Hugh Tinney meet with ease as a seamless and intimate duo. Two shorter works, a Beethoven Rondo and Kreisler Rondino complete the CD.

Nemanja Radulovic follows the success of his first CD for the Artact label, the Devil’s Trills (AR001) with an exquisite recital dedicated to Beethoven. In October he performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to great acclaim; “Radulovic phrased the notes with an individual precision, impeccable bowing and deliberate shaping as I had never heard before.” Daily Express

On her latest recording, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers takes us on a musical journey that begins in a hushed gentle dreamscape and ends with languorous longing. She traverses the seasons, as expressed in a gorgeous selection of pieces which evoke everything from cherry blossoms, to endless blue skies to starry winter nights.

One of the world’s premiere concert violinists, Anne Akiko Meyers has been celebrated throughout her nearly three-decade career for her exceptional musicianship, charismatic presence and creative diversity. On this new release, Meyers is joined by long-time collaborator Reiko Uchida on piano and the young harpist of the Paris Opera, Emmanuel Ceysson.

Hiro Kurosaki has had a long-standing musical partnership with Linda Nicholson, concentrating on the Classical and Romantic repertoire. Nicholson specializes in period performance, and here both perform on original instruments.

An intriguing idea to demonstrate the difference in sound with the two pairs of instruments using the same interpretational approach. The instruments are, first of all, a fortepiano from the year 1795 and a 1761 violin with gut strings and secondly, a modern grand piano and violin with metal strings. The result is fascinating music in a double listening experience of a unique kind.

Beethoven’s violin sonatas No’s 5 & 9 played by the great David Oistrakh. There are bonus tracks of violin pieces by Gluck & Brahms. Oistrakh is accompanied by Lev Obrin and Vladimir Yampolski on recordings made in Moscow between 1946 and 1952.

Recorded on 25th April, 6th, 9th,13th, 20th, 23rd and 29th May, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th, 12th and 13th June, 1952, at Pythian Temple, New York, USA.

Described by Nathan Milstein as ‘the greatest American-trained violinist’, Joseph Fuchs had an immensely long career, continuing to give recitals at Carnegie Hall until he was 93. He was a soloist with every major American orchestra and made many important recordings, including the concertos by Hindemith and Vaughan Williams, as well as Mozart’s G major and Sinfonia concertante.

For many years Fuchs had a duo with the pianist Artur Balsam with whom he made several recordings, including the Beethoven Violin Sonatas of which this disc forms the second of three volumes.

Apart from being the first complete cycle on the new vinyl medium, this one set a high standard in quality of both recording and performance. In his review of the original LP release in the December 21, 1952 New York Times Harold C Schonberg wrote: “Fuchs and Balsam make a magnificent team… Both instrumentalists scorn effects of a superficial nature and probe directly to the music’s bone. These are strong, powerful, thoughtful performances that have the added virtue of being technically impeccable”.

Joseph Fuchs was described by Nathan Milstein as “the greatest American-trained violinist.”