Composer: Maurice Ravel, Franz Peter Schubert, Clara Schumann, Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Viktoria Mullova, Katia Labèque
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Signum Records
Catalogue: SIGCD884
Release: 2025
Size: 249 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Stravinsky: Suite Italienne, K. 034
01. I. Introduction. Allegro moderato
02. II. Serenata. Larghetto
03. III. Tarantella. Vivace
04. IV. Gavotte [con due variazioni]
05. V. Scherzino. Presto alla breve
06. VI. Finale. Minuetto
Schubert: Fantasie in C Major, D. 934
07. I. Andante Molto
08. II. Allegretto
09. III. Andantino
10. IV. Allegro – V. Allegretto – VI. Presto
Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2, M. 77
11. I. Allegretto
12. II. Blues. Moderato
13. III. Perpetuum mobile. Allegro
Schumann C: 3 Romances, Op. 22
14. I. Andante molto
The first collaboration on record of long-time recital partners Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labèque. Ranging from the Schubert Fantasy of 1827 to Stravinsky s 1933 Suite Italienne, this fascinating programme spans a tremendously exciting 100 years, in which music changed radically, rapidly and irreversibly.
These works demonstrate the massive alterations wrought in those years; the contrast between the Romanticism of Schubert and Clara Schumann, and the innovation of Ravel and Stravinsky. Yet Stravinsky’s use of Baroque music and Ravel’s appropriation of jazz show that the 20th century embraced diverse influences, including those of the past. Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labèque have played this recital together many times, and, as is clear from this recording, relish each composer’s distinctive approach to writing for violin and piano. 5 stars “[A] marvellous new disc from Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labeque. They have been performing together regularly for years, and this disc has the feel of a genuine recital, a true partnership. The hushed opening of Schubert’s Fantasie is magical, with the early mist gradually clearing for a journey full of genial joie de vivre. Mullova’s slides in Ravel’s Sonata, captured in fine sound, have the fluidity and freedom that can only be achieved when understanding between violinist and pianist runs deep, while the pacing of the Perpetuum mobile is masterly…Clara Schumann’s Romanze is a sublime postlude to an imaginative and enjoyable disc” -BBC Music Magazine, JAN 2007
