J. Brahms: 3 Sonatas for Violin and Piano Yu Kurokawa & Wataru Hisasue

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78:
• 1 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78: I. Vivace ma non troppo 10:56
• 2 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78: II. Adagio 07:18
• 3 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78: III. Allegro molto moderato 09:13
• Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A major, Op. 100:
• 4 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A major, Op. 100: I. Allegro amabile 08:40
• 5 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A major, Op. 100: II. Andante tranquillo - Vivace 06:29
• 6 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A major, Op. 100: III. Allegretto grazioso(quasi Andante) 05:55
• Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108:
• 7 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108: I. Allegro 08:04
• 8 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108: II. Adagio 04:46
• 9 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108: III. Un poco presto e con sentimento 03:06
• 10 Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108: IV. Presto agitato 06:02
• Total Runtime 01:10:29

Info for J. Brahms: 3 Sonatas for Violin and Piano

This is a Debut Album from up-and-coming Japanese violinist Yu Kurokawa. He is a violinist who has won numerous awards, including the 1st prize at the Music Competition of Japan, the Idemitsu Music Award, and the Audience Award at the Sendai International Music Competition.

He will perform all three of Brahms' Violin Sonatas, which he says are ''my most sympathetic works,'' with pianist Wataru Hisasue, his long-time co-starring partner who is active worldwide.

"I have always had an inexpressible fondness for Brahms, and there is something special and awe-inspiring about his music. His music, with its longing beauty and sorrow that makes you feel like you can't step out of your comfort zone, is never confined to the world of fantasy, but is firmly rooted in the ground. It is truly an unexpected pleasure to be able to record all three of Brahms' violin sonatas, which are among the most fascinating of his works. I have already performed with the pianist Wataru Hisasue many times since we met on a scholarship from the same foundation, and it was an irreplaceable experience for me to work on these three special sonatas with his beautiful and lucid piano. When I am involved with Brahms' music, which can be likened to twilight or the autumn of life, I sometimes have a unique and elusive feeling of going back and forth between excitement and hesitation. I would be very happy if this album could help you to experience the world of Brahms, even if only a little."

"It is with great pleasure and honor that I am pleased to announce the release of the complete Brahms: Violin Sonatas with Yu Kurokawa on the Earl Anfini label. Each of Brahms' three violin sonatas has a completely different character, yet they share one rich scene. We hope that you will enjoy the passionate and gentle melodies of Brahms' masterpieces on this album with their realistic sounds. Although these are "violin sonatas," the piano part is of equal musical importance, which is one of the reasons why Brahms' music is so dense. In this album, we sought a piano sound that warmly envelops the mellow and rich melody played by Ms. Kurokawa's violin. In particular, the "Song of Rain," with its light and fleeting emotion, and the dramatic No. 3, with its effervescent passion, are highlights of the intense dialogue between the violin and the piano.I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Kurokawa who played every last note with a tone full of song, to the producers and tuners who worked on the recording with a strong commitment to sound, and to everyone who picked up a copy of this album." (Wataru Hisasue)

Yu Kurokawa, violin
Wataru Hisasue, piano

Yu Kurokawa
First prize at the 75th Japan Music Competition, Iwatani Prize (audience prize) and three other special prizes; Anna Piciulin Special Prize at the 2015 Rudolfo Lipizzi International Violin Competition and the audience prize at the 6th Sendai International Music Competition.

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orquesta Nacional de España, Brussels Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Okayama Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to performing with major orchestras in Japan and abroad, including the New Japan Philharmonic, Kyoto City Symphony Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Osaka Symphony Orchestra and Okayama Philharmonic Orchestra, he has also been well received in recitals and chamber music. She has received numerous awards for her performance activities, including the Idemitsu Music Award, the Aoyama Music Award Aoyama Prize, the Kurashiki City Arts and Culture Encouragement Award, the Okayama Arts and Culture Award Grand Prix, the Music Critic Club Award Encouragement Award, the Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Award Encouragement Award and the Kyoto City Art Newcomer Award. Her performance with the Prague Chamber Symphony Orchestra in Rudolfinum at the International Music Festival Young Prague was highly acclaimed by the late violinist Josef Suk, and she was invited to perform at the Waldstein Palace and other venues in the Czech Republic. In recent years, she has been actively engaged in premieres of new works, including Sonitus Vitalis VI - Hymn by Tokuhide Niimi and The Twin Birds by Ichiro Hirano.

Her performance at the subscription concert of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra was recorded on the CD 'Masterpiece Live Series' (Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2, conducted by Junichi Hirokami), and 'Brahms: Violin Sonatas' will be released in July 2011. She has made numerous media appearances, including NHKBS Premium Classical Club, Best of Classics, Enter the Music and Untitled Concert.

After studying in Vienna and Brussels, she received a full scholarship to study at the Toho Gakuen School of Music (Master's Degree) and completed her higher studies at the Ecole Normale Superieure de Musique. Studied under Hideo Kojima, Chihiro Kudo, P. Vernikov, Keiko Urushihara, Yuzuko Horigome, Hamao Fujiwara, S. Rusev and F. Szigeti.

(Scholarship recipient of the 37th Ezoe Memorial Recruit Foundation and Rohm Music Foundation 2016,2017. Part-time lecturer at Kyoto City University of Arts.

Instrument used is Guarneri del Gesu (1742). Bow used is Howard Green.

Wataru Hisasue
Born in Kyoto (Japan) in 1994. He began playing the piano at the age of 5. Wataru Hisasue received his first prize at the age of 12 at the 8th International Chopin Piano Competition in Asia. In 2015 he won the "First Grand Prix" and the "Musideco" prize at the 2nd Concours International de Piano - Ville de Gagny, at the 7th Concours International de Piano de Lyon he won both the first prize and the audience prize and in 2016 at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition he won the first prize in piano and the "German Pianist Prize" - awarded by the International Piano Forum Frankfurt. In 2017 he received the third prize at the 66th ARD Music Competition as well as the special prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned work by Pascal Dusapin.

Numerous solo performances took place such as in Tokyo, Kyoto, Berlin and Paris. Wataru Hisasue performed at the Konzerthaus Berlin at the "Young Euro Classic Festival 2016", in Mülheim with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and at the "AUDI Music Festival 2016" he performed with the Georgian Chamber Orchestra in Ingolstadt. He followed an invitation to the festival "Prèmiere Rencontre autour du piano 2016" in Guadeloupe, where he gave a master class in addition to piano solo recitals. At the music festival "42nd Fränkische Musiktage 2017" in Alzenau, he performed with the renowned cellist Tanja Tetzlaff.

In 2013 he began his bachelor's degree in piano at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg with Prof. Gilead Mishory. In 2015/2016 he studied as an Erasmus student at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP), where he took piano lessons with Prof. Emmanuel Strosser and improvisation chorégraphique with Prof. Franck Prévost and Deborah Shannon-Diouf. Since October 2017, he has been studying in the Master's programme at the Berlin University of the Arts with Prof. Pascal Devoyon and Prof. Klaus Hellwig. He was supported as a scholarship holder by the Heiwado Foundation in Japan, the Freunde-Junger-Musiker Berlin e.V., the Rohm Music Foundation in Japan and the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Hochschule für Musik Freiburg e.V. (Carl Seemann Prize 2015). In collaboration with the Italian label "Musideco", his first recording was produced in 2015 and can be heard on music download/streaming websites such as iTunes, Amazon and Googleplay.

This album contains no booklet.