Viktoria Mullova & Alasdair Beatson

Violin Sonatas Nos. 2, 4 & 9 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’

We don't begin cautiously. This first recital focuses on a Beethoven in full breakthrough mode! The Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 12 No. 2 in A opens playfully and audaciously: Beethoven experiments with unexpected modulations and pushes the violin emphatically to the fore, away from its decorative role. The Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23 deepens that trail and is darker in tone, more nervous in character, and extremely concentrated in expression. And then there is the Kreutzer Sonata: a work that transcends the boundaries of chamber music and assumes symphonic proportions thanks to the orchestral role of the pianoforte. Mullova and Beatson place the three works side by side as a compact sampler of Beethoven's early radicalism: a spicy cocktail of virtuosity, dramatic contrasts and a sense of urgency.

Programme: L. van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A, Op. 12 No. 2 | Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23 | Violin Sonata No. 9 in A, Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer’