Beethoven : Complete Sonatas for violin and piano

Renaud Capuçon, Frank Braley – 2010

This complete recording of Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano grows from a marathon performance project that Renaud Capuçon and Frank Braley launched in their native France in Summer 2009: some 50 concerts around Europe, all devoted to the Beethoven sonatas.

Disc 1 :

01 / Sonata for violin & piano No.1 in D major Op.12 No.1 : I Allegro con brio    8:50
02 / Sonata for violin & piano No.1 in D major Op.12 No.1 : II Tema con Variazioni : Andante con moto    1:19
03 / Sonata for violin & piano No.1 in D major Op.12 No.1 : II Tema con Variazioni : Variation I    1:14
04 / Sonata for violin & piano No.1 in D major Op.12 No.1 : II Tema con Variazioni : Variation II    1:16
05 / Sonata for violin & piano No.1 in D major Op.12 No.1, : II Tema con Variazioni : Variation III   1:01
06 / Sonata for violin & piano No.1 in D major Op.12 No.1 : II Tema con Variazioni : Variation IV    1:57
07 / Sonata for violin & piano No.1 in D major Op.12 No.1 : III Rondo. Allegro    4:33
08 / Sonata for violin & piano No.2 in A major Op.12 No.2 : I Allegro vivace    6:23
09 / Sonata for violin & piano No.2 in A major Op.12 No.2 : II Andante più tosto. Allegretto    5:11
10 / Sonata for violin & piano No.2 in A major Op.12 No.2 : III Allegro piacevole    4:38
11 / Sonata for Violin & Piano No.3 in E flat major Op.12 No.3 : I Allegro con spirito    8:02
12 / Sonata for Violin & Piano No.3 in E flat major Op.12 No.3: II Adagio con molt’espressione    6:03
13 / Sonata for Violin & Piano No.3 in E flat major Op.12 No.3 : III Rondo. Allegro molto    4:12
14 / Sonata for violin & piano No.4 in A minor Op.23 : I Presto    5:11
15 / Sonata for violin & piano No.4 in A minor Op.23 : II Andante scherzoso, più Allegretto    5:43
16 / Sonata for violin & piano No.4 in A minor Op.23 : III Allegro molto    5:17

Disc 2 :

01 / Sonata for violin & piano No.5 in F major Op.24 ‘Spring’ : I Allegro    9:47
02 / Sonata for violin & piano No.5 in F major Op.24 ‘Spring’ : II Adagio molto espressivo    5:48
03 / Sonata for violin & piano No.5 in F major Op.24 ‘Spring’ : III Scherzo. Allegro molto    1:08
04 / Sonata for violin & piano No.5 in F major Op.24 ‘Spring’ : IV Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo    6:30
05 / Sonata for violin & piano No.8 in G major Op.30 No.3 : I Allegro assai    6:10
06 / Sonata for violin & piano No.8 in G major Op.30 No.3 : II Tempo di Minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso    7:30
07 / Sonata for violin & piano No.8 in G major Op.30 No.3 : III Allegro vivace    3:23
08 / Sonata for violin & piano No.9 in A major Op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ : I Adagio sostenuto – Presto    13:20
09 / Sonata for violin & piano No.9 in A major Op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ : II Andante con Variazioni : Andante    2:26
10 / Sonata for violin & piano No.9 in A major Op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ : II Andante con Variazioni: Variation I    2:06
11 / Sonata for violin & piano No.9 in A major Op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ : II Andante con Variazioni: Variation II    1:51
12 / Sonata for violin & piano No.9 in A major Op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ : II Andante con Variazioni: Variation III    2:52
13 / Sonata for violin & piano No.9 in A major Op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ : II Andante con Variazioni: Variation IV    5:48
14 / Sonata for violin & piano No.9 in A major Op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ : III Presto    8:23

Disc 3 :

15 / Sonata for violin & piano No.6 in A major Op.30 No.1 : I Allegro    7:43
16 / Sonata for violin & piano No.6 in A major Op.30 No.1 : II Adagio molto espressivo    6:21
17 / Sonata for violin & piano No.6 in A major Op.30 No.1, III Allegretto con Variazioni: Allegretto    0:45
18 / Sonata for violin & piano No.6 in A major Op.30 No.1, III Allegretto con Variazioni : Variation I    0:43
19 / Sonata for violin & piano No.6 in A major Op.30 No.1, III Allegretto con Variazioni : Variation II    0:50
20 / Sonata for violin & piano No.6 in A major Op.30 No.1, III Allegretto con Variazioni : Variation III    0:44
21 / Sonata for violin & piano No.6 in A major Op.30 No.1, III Allegretto con Variazioni : Variation IV    0:59
22 / Sonata for violin & piano in A major Op.30 No.1, III Allegretto con Variazioni : Variation V    1:42
23 / Sonata for violin & piano No.6 in A major Op.30 No.1, III Allegretto con Variazioni: Variation VI    1:55
24 / Sonata for violin & piano No.7 in C minor Op.30 No.2 : I Allegro con brio    7:17
25 / Sonata for violin & piano No.7 in C minor Op.30 No.2 : II Adagio cantabile    8:39
26 / Sonata for violin & piano No.7 in C minor Op.30 No.2 : III Scherzo. Allegro    3:22
27 / Sonata for violin & piano No.7 in C minor Op.30 No.2: IV Finale. Allegro    4:59
28 / Sonata for violin & piano No.10 in G major Op.96: I Allegro moderato    10:34
29 / Sonata for violin & piano No.10 in G major Op.96: II Adagio espressivo    5:48
30 / Sonata for violin & piano No.10 in G major Op.96: III Scherzo. Allegro    2:05
31 / Sonata for violin & piano No.10 in G major Op.96: IV Poco Allegretto    8:38

The BBC Music website has observed that: “Capuçon’s style, perhaps because of his regular chamber work, is natural, understated and perceptive; the sound of a musician happily relaxed in his skin and not feeling the need to prove any virtuosic credentials.” Indeed, chamber music has always played a central role in his activities, and – beyond his cellist brother Gauthier – his regular partners include pianists Frank Braley and Nicholas Angelich, while his list of colleagues also includes such names as Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Hélène Grimaud, André Watts, Yefim Bronfman, Myung-Whun Chung, Stephen Kovacevich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Vadim Repin, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Yuri Bashmet and Truls Mørk.

“The complete Beethoven is a major project for the next two years,” explained Capuçon to the newspaper Sud-Ouest in summer 2009. “We hadn’t yet performed the Beethoven sonatas in France and we will be taking them on a major European tour. They are a real marathon of three-and-a-half hours of music. We perform the ten sonatas in chronological order so that we can follow the composer’s evolution. ”

“These sonatas are full of memories for me. The ‘Spring’ Sonata was the first piece of Beethoven I played, when I was ten years old. His music is a rite of passage for every violinist. I wanted to perform the complete cycle before thinking about the Bach sonatas, which are the Everest of the repertoire. “Beethoven gives you no place to hide in these sonatas. You have to find their spinal column, create a structure – and sing. Without wishing to appear pretentious, I’ve always felt at ease with Beethoven, more than with Schubert or Mozart. But it is for the public to judge.”

According to another French newspaper, La Provence, Capuçon and Braley “won over the public in triumphant fashion” at the festival of La Roque d’Anthéron with interpretations of Beethoven that were “fluid, precise, full of integrity … emphasising both the sweetness and energy of Beethoven … The two instruments established a delicious dialogue.”