Beethoven Violin Sonatas Nos. 2, 4 & 9 „Kreutzer“ Antje Weithaas & Dénes Várjon

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 12, No. 2:
• 1van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 12, No. 2: I. Allegro vivace06:25
• 2van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 12, No. 2: II. Andante, più tosto Allegretto05:30
• 3van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 12, No. 2: III. Allegro piacevole04:46
• Violin Sonata No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 23:
• 4van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 23: I. Presto07:12
• 5van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 23: II. Andante scherzoso, più allegretto08:16
• 6van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 23: III. Allegro molto05:20
• Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer Sonata":
• 7van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer Sonata": I. Adagio sostenuto - Presto14:04
• 8van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer Sonata": II. Andante con variazioni15:52
• 9van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer Sonata": III. Finale. Presto08:14
• Total Runtime01:15:39

Info for Beethoven Violin Sonatas Nos. 2, 4 & 9 „Kreutzer“

With Antje Weithaas and Dénes Várjon, two instrumentalists are at work who deliver a spirited result above all through their inspiring musicality and absolutely precise and highly concentrated playing. Both artists are known and toured worldwide as unique chamber musicians. For Vol. I of the planned complete recording, they have decided not to follow chronology, but rather to seek - even more delightfully and diversely - contrast. Here the compositional developments can be marvelled at even more strikingly. Volume 1, with Op. 12 / 2, Op. 23 and Op. 47, revolves tonally around the spectrum of A major and A minor.

This applies to all movements of these three sonatas - except for the Variations movement of the Kreutzer Sonata in F major. All three works in this volume follow the tradition in the number and formal structure of the movements: three movements with a fast first and final movement - in sonata or rondo form - and a slower, mostly melodic middle movement.

But Beethoven understands the reference to tradition as an inspiration for something new and original. The lines of development between the second and penultimate violin sonatas, both in A major, can be clearly discerned. The two further volumes of the complete edition are scheduled for release over the next 12 months.

Antje Weithaas, violin
Denes Varjon, piano

Antje Weithaas
One can hardly imagine a better advocate for music than Antje Weithaas. For her, not only does music itself take the fore but also its conveyance to the public. As one of the most sought-after soloists and chamber musicians of her generation, Antje Weithaas has a wide-ranging repertoire that includes the great concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, new works such as the Violin Concerto by Jörg Widmann, modern classics by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Ligeti and Gubaidulina, and lesser performed concertos by Korngold, Hartmann and Schoeck.

Antje Weithaas has been invited to perform with Germany’s leading orchestras, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bamberg Symphoniker and the major German radio orchestras, as well as numerous major international orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony, and the leading orchestras of the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Asia. She has worked with the illustrious conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Neville Marriner, Yuri Temirkanov, Yakov Kreizberg, Sakari Oramo and Carlos Kalmar.

Antje Weithaas kicks off her 2014/15 season with concerts at the Edinburgh International Festival and Rheingau Music Festival. With Camerata Bern, whose artistic director she has been since the 2009/10 season, she will perform Brahms’ Violin Concerto, appear in a joint project with Lars Vogt and go on tour in Central America. Two special highlights of the season will be her performances as soloist in concerts with the Konzerthaus-Orchester Berlin under Michael Gielen (Berg) and in recital at Wigmore Hall. Having been featured in a residency at de Singel Antwerp in the 2013/14 season, which showcased her musical versatility, Antje Weithaas will be Artist in Residence of the Philharmonic State Orchestra of Mainz in the current season and curate a Schumann weekend at the Schwetzingen Festival.

The Arcanto Quartet, with fellow violinist Daniel Sepec, violist Tabea Zimmermann and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, continues to be particularly important for Antje Weithaas’ chamber music activities. In recent years, the quartet has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon, Palau de la Música Barcelona, Théâtre du Châtelet and Cité de la Musique Paris, the Philharmonie in Berlin and the Konzerthaus Vienna, as well as touring Israel, Japan and North America. On the label Harmonia Mundi, they released CDs with works by Bartók, Brahms, Ravel, Dutilleux, Debussy and Schubert.

Antje Weithaas has released several highly acclaimed recordings of sonatas by Brahms and Mendelssohn, as well as of works by Dvorák, Suk, Schubert, Saint-Saëns, Ravel and Fauré with Silke Avenhaus on the CAvi-music label. Her most recent releases are the recording of the Berg and Beethoven Violin Concertos with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra under Steven Sloane on the Cavi Label, and Vol. 1 of the complete recording of Max Bruch’s works for Violin and Orchestra for cpo with the NDR Radio Philharmonic under Hermann Bäumer. Her first joint CD with Camerata Bern, a recording of Mendelssohn’s concerto for violin, piano and orchestra (with Alexander Lonquich) and his string quintet No. 2 in B-flat major Op. 87 (for string orchestra) was followed by a CD with works by Beethoven (String Quartet No. 11, Kreutzer Sonata).

Antje Weithaas began playing the violin at the age of four and later studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin with Professor Werner Scholz. She won the Kreisler Competition in Graz in 1987 and the Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1988, as well as the Hanover International Violin Competition in 1991. After teaching at the Universität der Künste Berlin, Antje Weithaas became a professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in 2004. She plays on a 2001 Peter Greiner violin.

Booklet for Beethoven Violin Sonatas Nos. 2, 4 & 9 „Kreutzer“