Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Clara-Jumi Kang, Sunwook Kim
Number of Discs: 4
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Accentus
Catalogue: ACC80558
Release: 2021
Size: 4.18 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op. 12 No. 1
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Tema con variazioni. Andante con moto
03. III. Rondo. Allegro
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 12 No. 2
04. I. Allegro vivace
05. II. Andante, più tosto allegretto
06. III. Allegro piacevole
Violin Sonata No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 12 No. 3
07. I. Allegro con spirito
08. II. Adagio con molta espressione
09. III. Rondo. Allegro molto
CD 02
Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23
01. I. Presto
02. II. Andante scherzoso, più allegretto
03. III. Allegro molto
Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 ‘Spring’
04. I. Allegro
05. II. Adagio molto espressivo
06. III. Scherzo. Allegro molto
07. IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo
CD 03
Violin Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 30 No. 1
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Allegretto con variazioni
Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2
04. I. Allegro con brio
05. II. Adagio cantabile
06. III. Scherzo. Allegro
07. IV. Finale. Allegro
Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30 No. 3
08. I. Allegro assai
09. II. Tempo di minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso
10. III. Allegro vivace
CD 04
Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”
01. I. Adagio sostenuto – Presto
02. II. Andante con variazioni
03. III. Finale. Presto
Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 96
04. I. Allegro moderato
05. II. Adagio espressivo
06. III. Scherzo. Allegro
07. IV. Poco allegretto
Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his 10 violin sonatas between 1797 and 1812. The Sonatas No. 1 to No. 9 were written between 1797 and 1803 before almost ten years passed until his Opus 96. The composer premiered all his early piano works himself, which might be why he called them “Sonatas for Pianoforte and Violin”. In the spirit of W. A. Mozart’s redefinition of the genre, who elevated the violin from its previously only accompanying role, and in spite of today’s common designation as “violin sonatas,” both instrumental parts in Beethoven’s sonatas are on an equal musical footing.
In 2020 – the anniversary year surrounding Beethoven’s 250th birthday – the Korean violinist Clara-Jumi Kang and her partner on the piano, Sunwook Kim, took on this special cycle of chamber music works. Kang first worked on one of Beethoven’s sonatas, the Fifth, at the tender age of eight and can already look back on an extremely successful international career. With Sunwook Kim, she has an exceptionally experienced Beethoven interpreter at her side, whose recordings of the piano sonatas, among others, have received high accolades around the globe. Together they have developed an inspiring and very personal reading of Beethoven’s Sonatas, of which this complete recording bears impressive witness.