Early Schubert For Violin And Piano
Schubert composed three sonatas for violin and piano in 1816 at the age of 19. They were first published posthumously in 1836 as Schubert's Opus 137 and given the title of "sonatinas". These three youthful works receive an endearing performance on this CD by violinist Hyejin Chung and pianist Warren Lee. Chung, who makes her recording debut on this CD, studied in Hong Kong before receiving her doctorate from the Moscow State Conservatory. She currently teaches advanced students in Hong Kong and has several recording projects in the works. Warren Lee won both the Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition and the Grand Prix Ivo Pogorelich in 1996. Since that time, he has enjoyed a successful career as a concert artist. Chung and Lee collaborate intimately on these sonatas. Chung has a singing tone. The piano is the leading instrument most of the time in these works and Lee's playing is full and expressive.
The CD includes the three-movement sonata in D major, D. 384, the four-movement sonata in A minor, D. 385, and the four-movement sonata in D minor, D. 408. The works are within the reach of amateurs and were written for performance and enjoyment and home more than for the concert hall. They are the works of a young Schubert in instrumental music, three years before he wrote his "Trout" Quintet. They are full of exuberance and of long, engaging melodic lines. They include echoes of the many songs Schubert was writing at the time. The two minor key works have moments of passion in the outer movements and the slow movements of each sonata are cantabile, and lovely. The sonatas are much more concerned with singing than with musical development. Enjoyable to hear, they are the work of a composer still learning how to handle instrumental forms longer than songs. The music floats by without being gripping.
The three works on the CD constitute one-half of Schubert's output for violin and piano. The remaining three works include the Sonata in A major, D 259. written the year after these three sonatas, the Rondo Brilliant in B minor, D. 895, and the Fantasy in D major, D. 934. The latter two works are among the great masterpieces Schubert wrote late in his short life. Taken together the six works for violin and piano show how Schubert deepened and mastered this instrumental combination. I would love to hear Chung and Lee follow-up this recording with Schubert's remaining works for violin and piano.
Lovers of Schubert and of the violin will enjoy this recording. The CD was recorded in Hong Kong in September 2015. Keith Anderson wrote brief liner notes. Naxos kindly sent me a copy of the recording to review.
Total Time: 64:17
Robin Friedman
