Brahms: Violin Sonatas Leila Schayegh & Jan Schultsz

• Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 "Regen":
• 1 Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 "Regen": I. Vivace ma non troppo 09:47
• 2 Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 "Regen": II. Adagio 06:21
• 3 Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 "Regen": III. Allegro molto moderato 08:07
• Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100:
• 4 Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100: I. Allegro amabile 08:02
• 5 Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100: II. Andante tranquillo - Vivace 05:27
• 6 Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100: III. Allegro grazioso, quasi andante 05:16
• Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108:
• 7 Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108: I. Allegro 07:57
• 8 Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108: II. Adagio 03:53
• 9 Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108: III. Un poco presto e con sentimento 03:05
• 10 Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108: IV. Presto agitato 06:12
• Violin Sonata in A Minor "F-A-E":
• 11 Violin Sonata in A Minor "F-A-E": I. Dietrich. Allegro in A Minor 05:27
• Total Runtime 01:09:34

Info for Brahms: Violin Sonatas

The Violin Sonatas of Johannes Brahms were the product of much self-critical reflection, and the three surviving works are from a composer mature in years. Composed around the same time as the Violin Concerto (No 1), the C minor Piano Trio and the Second Cello Sonata (Nos 2 and 3), they also echo some of his songs, such as those written to poems by Klaus Groth.

Into this Romantic atmosphere come new performances of the three works on Glossa, played by violinist Leila Schayegh (particularly fêted for her recordings of Bach, Caldara and Benda), teaming up here with pianist Jan Schultsz. Schayegh plays a copy of a period violin, whilst Schultsz uses an original 1879 Streicher instrument.

The two players aim to recapture the performing tradition as the composer would have known it, and within which he would have intended his pieces to have been played. Schayegh and Schultsz worked with Clive Brown and Neal Peres Da Costa in their efforts to aim for “the spirit rather than the dead letter of the score” and they pay admirable notice of important interpretative questions for music of this time – and they provide an intuitive musical and emotional response to the lyricism of the first two sonatas and the darker-hued tones of the third, investing these late-nineteenth-century works.

Leila Schayegh, violin
Jan Schultsz, piano

Leila Schayegh
belongs to the most visible violinists in the current baroque music scene.

Her vivacious interpretation has placed her at the center of old music. She performes all over Europe as a soloist or in chamber music groups and is regularly invited by modern orchestras for concerts and masterclasses.

Leila Schayegh has developed a close collaboration with Jörg Halubek, cembalist, organist and director. Their 2016 recording of Bach’s six obligato sonatas was awarded numerous prizes (Diapason de l’année, Grammophone Award, Schallenplattpreis). Her collaboration with director and cembalist Vaclav Luks led to the recordings of Benda’s violin sonatas (Diapason d’Or 2011) and Mysliveček’s violin concertos in 2018. She’s been playing since 2008 with Gli Angéli Genève (directed by Stephan MacLeod), in particular for the almost complete series of Bach’s cantatas. She’s recently expended her repertoire towards the classical and romantic period, in particular with a recording of Brahms’s violin sonatas in 2018 with Jan Schultsz for the label Glossa.

Since 2010 she is professor of baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, as successor of Chiara Banchini. She passes to a new generation of musician her experience as well as approach of music: an expressive interpretation based on thorough knowledge of the historical and musical context of the period where the works were composed.

Born in Winterthur (Switzerland), she finished in 1999 her studies in modern violin with Raphaël Oleg at the Basel Music Academy with Summa cum laude. After two years as a member of the Philharmonia Zurich, she joined the class of Biara Banchini at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where she obtained in 2005 a diploma Summa cum laude. She was awarded in 2003 the first prizes of the Alte Musiktreff in Berlin, the Förderpreiswettbewerb der Konzertgesellschaft in München as well as Premio Bonporti in Rovereto, Italy.

Jan Schultsz
(1965) is one of the leading pianists and conductors of our time and teaching at the conservatory in Basel.

Jan Schultsz was born in 1965 in Amsterdam and received his first piano lessons at the age of 4 and his first horn lessons at the age of 10. He studied both instruments in Amsterdam and Basel.He is giving concerts with singers and instrumentalists in numerous European countries and in 1996 for the first time in the Carnegie Hall (New York). He is playing as soloist with orchestras in Basel and several chamber orchestras. Additionaly he was leading classes at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz. Currently he is teaching piano at the conservatory in Basel.Jan Schultsz completed his education as an conductor in Basel, Bern and Zürich under Horst Stein, Manfred Honeck, Wilfried Boettcher and Ralf Weikert. Additionaly he participated in numerous conducting courses (amongst others with Jorma Panula) and studied at Conservatory in St. Petersburg (Russia). He is winner of several prices and scholarships.Jan Schultsz lead many European Orchestras as guest conductor, for example the "Tonhalleorchester Zürich", the "Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg" or the Orchestre de Chambre de Neuchâtel. He has always a lot of success in working with youth and conservatory orchestras. He has been musical director at the "Norske Opera" in Oslo (Sweeden) and conductor at the Hungarian state opera in Budapest.

Jan Schultsz participated in numerous radio and TV productions and recorded several CDs. His recording of Franz Schubert's "Die schöne Müllerin" with Werner Güra (tenor) was honored with the "Diapasson d'or". This CD just as his performance of "Dichterliebe" and "Liederkreis" by Schumann was recorded on a C. Bechstein grand piano. From his earliest years Schultsz is closely linked with Bechstein.

Booklet for Brahms: Violin Sonatas