Schubert - Duos for piano & violin - Harmonia Mundi: HMC901870 - CD or download

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The song-variations at the heart of the Fantaisie put on a good show of polite drawing-room charm, but the strange tremolando introduction strays close to a very late-Schubertian emotional cliff-edge.... — BBC Music Magazine, March 2006, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 6th Feb 2006
Catalogue No: HMC901870
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Length: 57 minutes

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Schubert: Fantasie in C major for violin and piano, D934

Work length22:57

$4.40

$5.50

I. Andante molto

Track length3:18

$1.00

$1.25

II. Allegretto

Track length5:11

$1.00

$1.25

III. Andantino

Track length10:17

$1.40

$1.75

IV. Allegro vivace

Track length4:11

$1.00

$1.25

Schubert: Grand Duo for Violin and Piano in A Major, D574

Work length21:33

$4.20

$5.25

I. Allegro moderato

Track length8:36

$1.20

$1.50

II. Scherzo presto

Track length3:58

$1.00

$1.25

III. Andantino

Track length3:46

$1.00

$1.25

IV. Allegro vivace

Track length5:13

$1.00

$1.25

Schubert: Rondo brillant in B minor, D895 (Op. 70)

Work length2:40

$1.00

$1.25

Schubert: Rondo brillant in B minor, D895 (Op. 70)

Work length10:31

$1.40

$1.75

Reviews
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Reviews

March 2006

The song-variations at the heart of the Fantaisie put on a good show of polite drawing-room charm, but the strange tremolando introduction strays close to a very late-Schubertian emotional cliff-edge. Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov are particularly successful in that strange, haunting opening.

2010

In nearly every respect this is outstanding. The Rondo and the Fantasie, both written for the virtuoso duo of Karl von Bocklet and Josef Slawik, can sound as if Schubert were striving for a brilliant, flashy style, foreign to his nature.
Both are in places uncomfortable to play (when first published, the Fantasie's violin part was simplified), but you would never guess this from Faust's and Melnikov's performance; they both nonchalantly toss off any problem passages as though child's play.
The Fantasie's finale and the Rondo are irresistibly lively and spirited, and this duo's technical finesse extends to more poetic episodes – Melnikov's tremolo at the start of the Fantasie shimmers delicately, while the filigree passagework in the last of the variations that form the Fantasie's centrepiece have a delightful poise and sense of ease.
The Sonata's more intimate style is captured just as convincingly; in all three performances Faust and Melnikov observe Schubert's often very detailed, careful expression marks, not as a matter of duty, but as a stimulus to the imagination, as a way of entering more deeply into the music.
The one slight reservation concerns Isabelle Faust's manner of expression. She makes the most of any passionate phrases and is equally convincing at cool, mysterious or dreamlike moments.
But the lyrical phrases in the Rondo's introduction surely demand a more heartfelt utterance.
In the Sonata, too, there are places where one longs for more warmth. This quibble aside, it's a lovely disc, one to listen to over and over again.

May 2006

The Fantasie's finale and the Rondo are irresistibly lively and scripted, and this duo's technical finesses extends to more poetic episodes - Melnikov's tremolo at the start of the Fantasie shimmers delicately, while the filigree passagework in the last of the variations that form the Fantasie's centrepiece have a delightful poise and sense of ease.

Alexander Melnikov's bright, at times almost puckish, piano playing is perfectly matched by the violinist Isabel Faust. She is one of the few violinists who virtually always hits the note dead-centre, and her rapport with Melnikov is clear.

Schubert - Duos for piano & violin

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