inPRIMETIME: recital 04.02.27, Violin Sonatas nos. 2, 4 & 9 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’

We are not starting cautiously. This first recital focuses on a Beethoven in full breakthrough mode! De Vioolsonate No. 2, Op. 12 in A, opens playfully and brashly: Beethoven experiments with unexpected modulations and emphatically pushes the violin to the fore, away from its decorative role. De Vioolsonate No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23, deepens that path and is darker in tone, more nervous in character, and extremely concentrated in expression. And then there is the Kreutzer Sonata: one that crosses the boundaries of chamber music and takes on symphonic proportions thanks to the orchestral use of the pianoforte. Mullova and Beatson place the three works side by side as a compact sample of Beethoven's early radicalism: a spirited cocktail of virtuosity, dramatic contrasts, and a sense of urgency.