BRAHMS

The Violin Sonatas

No. 2 in A major

I Allegro amabile

II Andante tranquillo – Vivace

III Allegretto grazioso (quasi Andante)

No. 1 in G major

I Vivace ma non troppo

II Adagio

III Allegro molto moderato

No. 3 in D minor

I Allegro

II Adagio

III Un poco presto e con sentimento

IV Presto agitato

Encore

Wiegenlied

Anne-Sophie Mutter

Lambert Orkis

“Never before have Mutter and Orkis seemed so joined at the hip, giving and taking, conducting dialogue, chasing each others’ thoughts . . . She plays with a new degree of maturity and depth, especially visible in the slow movements. The disc’s high point is the adagio from the first sonata, in G major, where Mutter’s gold thread is reduced to a dusky murmur before shifting through tones as subtle as they are various. Orkis’s contribution is equally vital, whether keeping pace with limpid filigree or, at the close, pedalling up a penumbra of resonance to balance Mutter’s whispers. Magical music-making, this. Elsewhere, Mutter shows that she is able to become passionately alive without shaking with neuroses. In the third sonata, in D minor, the finale lives up to Brahms’s instruction -- "presto agitato" -- but never races over the top. Throughout, speeds and dynamics are controlled with regard for the music’s inner substance, not its outward show . . . The CD’s delectable virtues also include Deutsche Grammophon’s clear, well-balanced recording. A masterly issue . . .” The Times (London)

On this recording, Anne-Sophie Mutter, accompanied by pianist Lambert Orkis, shares her up-to-date thoughts on the Brahms Violin Sonatas that have been central to her repertoire from the start of her career

As bonus material the DVD includes Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis in conversation in English (with subtitles), Anne-Sophie Mutter on Brahms’s Violin Sonatas in German and the promotional video.

Region: 0

Format: NTSC

Deutsche Grammohphone DVD 0734617