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Beethoven - Violin Sonatas 2 & 10

The Europadisc Review

Beethoven - Violin Sonatas 2 & 10

Viktoria Mullova (violin), Alasdair Beatson (fortepiano)

£8.99

Fifteen years separate Beethoven’s Violin Sonata no.2, op.12 no.2 (1797–98), from the G major Violin Sonata, op.96 (1812), his final work in the genre. And it’s also a decade and a half since violinist Viktoria Mullova started her cycle of the sonatas, now completed with these two works. Released in 2010 on the Onyx label, the first disc in the series coupled the Third and Ninth Sonatas (the latter, the famous ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata) in partnership with fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout. The second disc in the series (Sonata 4, 5 and 7) brought a change of pianist, with Alasdair Beatson stepping i... read more

Fifteen years separate Beethoven’s Violin Sonata no.2, op.12 no.2 (1797–98), from the G major Violin Sonata, op.96 (1812), his final work in the genre. And it’s also a decade and a half since violinist Viktoria Mullova started her cycle of the sonatas, now completed with these two works. Released in... read more

Beethoven - Violin Sonatas 2 & 10

Beethoven - Violin Sonatas 2 & 10

Viktoria Mullova (violin), Alasdair Beatson (fortepiano)

Fifteen years separate Beethoven’s Violin Sonata no.2, op.12 no.2 (1797–98), from the G major Violin Sonata, op.96 (1812), his final work in the genre. And it’s also a decade and a half since violinist Viktoria Mullova started her cycle of the sonatas, now completed with these two works. Released in 2010 on the Onyx label, the first disc in the series coupled the Third and Ninth Sonatas (the latter, the famous ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata) in partnership with fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout. The second disc in the series (Sonata 4, 5 and 7) brought a change of pianist, with Alasdair Beatson stepping into Bezuidenhout’s shoes, while the third album (Sonatas 1, 6 and 8) saw a switch of label to Signum Records. The wait, however, has been worth it: Mullova’s superb musicianship is coupled with the historically-informed sensibilities she has brought to her performances in recent years, all in a close-knit partnership with Beatson’s playing.

This final release pairs two of Beethoven’s loveliest violin sonatas. The earlier work, in A major, has a wonderful freshness, its perky Allegro vivace full of Mozartian joie de vivre, mercurial runs inflected by Beethovenian explosiveness, and a lightly haunting concluding theme. Mullova and Beatson go hand-in-glove through the music’s quick-fire progress, combining excitement with subtle control. The middle movement, marked Andante, più tosto Allegretto and cast in A minor, introduces a melancholy mood, enhanced by the finely-etched clarity of the fortepiano (a Paul McNulty copy of an 1805 Walter). Mullova’s deployment of soulful but sensitive vibrato will upset only the most diehard of purists: the music’s deeply personal tone more than justifies such expressive engagement.

Seemingly coloured by the interaction between capricious first movement and introspective second, the concluding Allegro piacevole is characterised by a benign playfulness, with wonderfully poised moments of lyricism and reflection. The way in which Mullova and Beatson gently swell as the phrasing rises and falls seems entirely natural, and the minor-key inflections are wonderfully telling. Here, as in the slow movement, the tonal qualities brought by the players and their instruments are exquisitely judged to match the musical figuration.

The Sonata no.10 in G major brings a change in scale (four movements rather than three) and also in expressive ambit. While again an outwardly sunny work, hidden depths lie not so far beneath the surface, and the music’s frequent gravitation towards the flattened submediant (E flat major) brings Schubert to mind. The inventiveness, however, is pure Beethoven at his most unexpectedly benevolent. Here Beatson uses a McNulty copy of an 1819 Graf fortepiano, and its marvellously transparent, haunting tones are heard to remarkable effect in the expansive first movement. With its telling use of trills and glassy scalic progressions, this music brings out some remarkable facets in Mullova’s playing, as does the glorious, hymn-like Adagio, which progresses from the low-lying figuration of its opening to a magical central climax of near-operatic intensity.

The brief Scherzo bursts in with biting accents, relieved by a bucolic trio: at under two minutes, this is a masterpiece of concision, right down to the foreshortened close. Balancing this brevity is the finale, a set of variations whose theme must count among Beethoven’s most genial. Mullova and Beatson perfectly capture the warmth of this music without ever tipping into indulgence, and the explosions along the way and the surprise ending are splendidly incisive. This work inevitably gets overshadowed by its predecessor, the ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, but this performance had us revelling in every twist and turn of an underrated masterpiece.

Ultimately, it’s the inviting mood of benevolence that characterises this performance and the disc as a whole. It makes a formidable conclusion to this beautifully conceived and realised cycle, and Beethovenians out there need not hesitate. Commendably minimalist packaging (just a gatefold cardboard sleeve, with succinct notes by Beatson) is complemented by an exceptionally vivid but warm recording that brings out all the character of the playing and the instruments.

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Remembering Christoph von Dohnányi

Remembering Christoph von Dohnányi  10th September 2025

10th September 2025

The death on Saturday 6 September of the distinguished German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi, just two days before his 96th birthday, has brought warm tributes from across the classical music world. He was born on 8 September 1929 into a family with notable Hungarian roots. His grandfather was the composer Ernst von Dohnányi, with whom he would study in Florida after World War II. His father, Hans (to whom he bore a striking resemblance), and maternal uncle, the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, were both executed by the Nazis in the wake of the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler, in which it was alleged they were leading conspirators. Both were prominent figures in the anti-Nazi resistance movement, and something of their moral strength of character was inherited by Christoph and his brother Klaus, who who served as SPD mayor of Hamburg in the 1980s.

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