Schumann - Violin Sonatas - ECM: 4766744 - CD or download

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…riveting performances from Carolin Widmann and Dénes Várjon. In their skilled hands the nervous pulsating of the First Sonata's opening phrases is resolved in a magical glow of C major… that... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2009, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 25th Aug 2008
Catalogue No: 4766744
Label: ECM
Series: New Series
Length: 71 minutes

Gramophone Awards

2009

Finalist - Chamber

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105

Work length17:29

$2.55

$3.45

Carolin Widmann (violin), Dénes Várjon (piano)
Recorded: 2007-08-27
Recording Venue: Auditorio Radio Svizzera RTSI, Lugano

1. Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck

Track length8:03

$0.85

$1.15

2. Allegretto

Track length3:49

$0.85

$1.15

3. Lebhaft

Track length5:37

$0.85

$1.15

Schumann: Sonata for Violin and Pianoforte in A Minor, WoO 2

Work length20:08

$3.40

$4.60

Carolin Widmann (violin), Dénes Várjon (piano)
Recorded: 2007-08-27
Recording Venue: Auditorio Radio Svizzera RTSI, Lugano

I. Ziemlich langsam - (Lebhaft)

Track length7:10

$0.85

$1.15

III. Lebhaft

Track length3:14

$0.85

$1.15

II. Intermezzo. Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell

Track length3:13

$0.85

$1.15

IV. Finale. Markiertes, ziemlich lebhaftes Tempo

Track length6:31

$0.85

$1.15

Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 121

Work length33:48

$3.40

$4.60

Carolin Widmann (violin), Dénes Várjon (piano)
Recorded: 2007-08-27
Recording Venue: Auditorio Radio Svizzera RTSI, Lugano

1. Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft

Track length13:42

$0.85

$1.15

2. Sehr lebhaft

Track length4:04

$0.85

$1.15

3. Leise, einfach

Track length6:31

$0.85

$1.15

4. Bewegt

Track length9:31

$0.85

$1.15

About
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About

• Two extraordinary young musicians in their ECM debut.

• Widmann and Várjon have played together since 2004 and share a passion for Robert Schumann.

• Schumann’s late sonatas discovered anew in technically accomplished and emotionally gripping interpretations that reveal the psychological drama behind the scores.

• Schumann is romantic music in the most comprehensive sense: passionate, melodic, full of sombre energy, humour and exuberance.

• Benchmark interpretation of Schumann’s third sonata - published in a reliable edition only a few years ago and rarely recorded.

Reviews

February 2009

…riveting performances from Carolin Widmann and Dénes Várjon. In their skilled hands the nervous pulsating of the First Sonata's opening phrases is resolved in a magical glow of C major… that momentarily resolves the underlying despair of the music which surrounds it. ...in the glorious D minor Second Sonata. Widmann's beguiling subtlety of phrasing, tonal colour and dynamic shading proves a revelation. She lives through each and every note, weaving a spellbinding emotional narrative that captivates throughout. Indisputably, one of the all-time great Schumann recordings.

2010

Schumann's violin-and-piano sonatas have never become favourite staples of the repertoire.
Full textures, with the violin mainly confined to its middle and lower registers, often continue uninterrupted for many bars, and a somewhat grey, monotonous effect can be compounded by the composer's obsessive repetition of certain rhythms and motifs. But is this a fair description? You wouldn't think so after hearing Carolin Widmann and Dénes Várjon; their imaginative, wide-ranging variations of tone colour unlock the music's romantic, atmospheric potential, and their command of genuine rubato – passionate, unimpeded forward motion followed by lingering backward glances – gives the sonatas an expressive flexibility that's surely authentic.
'With sorrowful expression', writes Schumann at the start of the First Sonata, and the surges of painful emotion in this performance, while sounding quite spontaneous, are rigorously based on the printed expression marks. Similarly, the gripping account of the Second Sonata's slow introduction starts from meticulous observance of Schumann's dynamics, slurs and staccatos, adding to this an entirely convincing rhythmic freedom. The opening page of this sonata's third movement, which creates a remote, almost chilling effect, isn't quite so convincing.
Back in 1952, George Enescu, playing with Celiny Chailley-Richez (Opus Kura), gen- tly arpeggiated his plucked chords and, on taking up the bow, found a beautifully intimate, confiding tone – this mood may well be closer to what Schumann intended. Overall, however, Várjon and Widmann are entirely persuasive.
Whether or not you know the music well, you'll be enthralled and delighted.

Awards Issue 2008

…Carolin Widmann and Dénes Várjon's imaginative wide-ranging variations of tone colour unlock the music's romantic, atmospheric potential, and their command of genuine rubato - passionate, unimpeded forward motion followed by lingering backward glances - gives the sonatas an expressive flexibility that's surely authentic.

26th September 2008

These constantly sharp-witted performances with Denes Varjon are now among the best available on disc...Every bar in both of [the first two sonatas] seems freshly moulded in their performances, as if Schumann had rolled back the years to the surging lyricism of two decades before.

Schumann - Violin Sonatas

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