Complete sonatas for piano and violin by Isabelle van Keulen / Hannes Minnaar

Isabelle van Keulen / Hannes Minnaar

Complete sonatas for piano and violin

Format: SACD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917265026
Catnr: CC 72650
Release date: 25 September 2014

SACD (4 items)

Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917265026

Catalogue number
CC 72650

Release date
25 September 2014

"''Here tone can be a bit sharp, but her intense musical talent and the fact that she's playing together with Hannes Minnaar makes it al up.''"

NRC Handelsblad, 28-7-2016

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

‘Sonata per il Pianoforte ed un Violino obligato, scritta in uno stile molto concertante, quasi come d’un concerto. Composta e dedicata al suo amico R. Kreutzer, (....) per L. van Beethoven. Opera 47.’

This was the title given to the first edition of Sonata No. 9, known as the Kreutzer Sonata. It shows Beethoven’s thinking on the piano-violin combination: the piano came first, which obviously had something to do with the virtuoso skills of the master himself on the pianoforte. Not only was Sonata Op. 47 a turning point in Beethoven’s work for piano and violin, but never before had anything been written in this manner for piano and one other instrument. Whereas the keyboard instrument had always been secondary, an accompaniment, the Kreutzer Sonata put an end to this once and for all, The first eight violin sonatas, Op. 12/1-3, Op. 23 and 24, and Op. 30-1/3, were composed between 1798 and 1802, in Beethoven’s first creative period; after the Sonata Op. 47 in 1803, at the beginning of the middle period, he set the genre aside until 1812, the year in which the hushed, reflective tenth sonata, Op. 96 in G major, was written. All in all, the ten Sonatas for piano and violin are an impassioned exposition of Beethoven’s great inventiveness, and all aspects of his composing genius are present in them: the exuberance, the humour, the love for variations (four of the ten sonatas have a movement consisting of a theme with variations and four others have a rondo as the final movement, consisting of a theme and variations), the tenderness and the mystery, in short: an inexhaustible source of inspiration!

De complete sonates voor piano en viool van Beethoven, een onuitputtelijke bron van inspiratie
Dit album bevat alle sonaten van Beethoven voor viool en piano door de bekende violiste Isabelle van Keulen en pianist Hannes Minaar.
Over Isabelle van Keulen zegt het gerespecteerde Britse dagblad The Guardian: 'Her taut musical intelligence and vivid sound combined with a fine instinct for the tender, searching quality of this music ... absolutely magical.' En over Hannes Minaar zegt het gezaghebbende muziektijdschrift Gramophone: 'One to watch', 'Every single performance by this pianist is out of the top drawer'

‘Sonata per il Pianoforte ed un Violino obligato, scritta in uno stile molto concertante, quasi come d’un concerto. Composta e dedicata al suo amico R. Kreutzer, (....) per L. van Beethoven. Opera 47.’
Dit is de titel van de vroegste versie van de negende sonate, ook wel bekend als de ‘Kreutzer Sonate’. Nog nooit eerder was er een sonate geschreven voor piano in combinatie met een ander instrument, in dit geval de viool. De eerste acht vioolsonates werden tussen 1798 en 1802 gecomponeerd door Beethoven. Na de Sonate Opera 47 in 1803, liet hij het componeren van piano en vioolstukken links liggen tot 1812 waarin hij, zoals wordt beweerd, de tiende sonate in G majeur had geschreven.
De tien sonates voor piano en viool laten de passie en grote vindingrijkheid van Beethoven perfect naar voren komen en bevatten alle kenmerken van het componeergenie zoals de uitbundigheid, de humor, de tederheid en het mysterieuze.

Diese Aufnahme vereint alle Sonaten Beethovens für Violine und Klavier in einem eleganten 4-CD-Set. Die Sonaten sind Zeichen von Beethovens Erfindungsreichtum, Humor, seiner Freude an der Variation, sie sind zärtlich und mysteriös. Facettenreich wie die Kompositionen ist das Spiel der beiden Musiker: jede Vorstellung des Newcomers Hannes Minnaar ist Spitzenklasse, dazu die immense musikalische Intelligenz der Violinistin kombiniert mit ihrem lebhaften Klang und einem Instinkt für die zarte, suchende Qualität der Musik - "einfach magisch"! (The Guardian)

Artist(s)

Isabelle van Keulen

”Her taut musical intelligence and vivid sound combined with a fine instinct for the tender, searching quality of this music … absolutely magical.” The Guardian Since her breakthrough in 1984 winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year, a competition that was broadcast all over Europe and watched live on television by millions, Isabelle van Keulen can now look back on many years of musical diversity. Not only is it always vital for her to approach the musical score with honesty and with an extremely consious approach to interpretation, she also strives to communicate with her audiences and musical partners, allowing her to perform in an inspirational, lively and enthusiastic manner.
Her versatility lies in the fact that she not only plays the violin, but as well viola with the same energy, performing chamber music in any thinkable combination and directing chamber orchestra performances. Whether in the over 20 year intense collaboration with the Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam, concerts with mezzo soprano Christianne Stotijn, performing/directing the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, combining violin and viola in one appearance, or being a soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic or NHK Tokyo. Above all, being faithful to the music is her highest priority.
She has over the course of her career engaged works written by contemporary composers. She had many concertos written especially for her (Theo Loevendie, Erkki-Sven Tüür) and has many other 20th and 21st century works in her repertoire: Concertos by Henri Dutilleux, John Adams and Lera Auerbach. She also likes to perform less known works by Colin Matthews and Concertos by Krenek, Pettersson and Busoni.

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Hannes Minnaar

Hannes Minnaar received international acclaim after winning prizes at the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2010, 3rd prize) and the Geneva International Music Competition (2008, 2nd prize) and being awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship (2011). He studied with Jan Wijn at the Amsterdam Conservatory, graduating with the highest distinction and took master classes with Menahem Pressler and Ferenc Rados. In addition, he studied organ with Jacques van Oortmerssen.
Minnaar was soloist with various orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, during which time he worked with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Jiří Bělohlávek, Herbert Blomstedt, Frans Brüggen, Eliahu Inbal, Edo de Waart and Xian Zhang. He gives recitals in many European countries and around the world. He performed at the Royal Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Musashino Hall (Tokyo) and the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Moscow) and was invited to the festivals of La Roque d’Anthéron, Bordeaux (Jacobins) and Guangzhou.
Minnaar is also active as a chamber musician. As a member of the Van Baerle Trio he won prizes at competitions in Lyon (2011, CIMCL, 1st prize) and Munich (2013, ARD, 2nd prize). The trio gave 18 concerts in an international tour in the “Rising Stars” series in 2014, including the Barbican (London), Musikverein (Vienna) and Cité de la Musique (Paris). Minnaar also performed with musicians such as Janine Jansen, Isabelle van Keulen and Mischa Maisky.
His two solo albums are highly acclaimed. His debut album was awarded an Edison and Gramophone published a full-page article about this album. The same magazine wrote about his second album “Bach inspirations”: “After Minnaar’s debut disc, this makes two hits in a row”. BBC Music Magazine selected it as “Instrumental choice of the month” with 5 stars.
Minnaar is currently recording all of Beethoven’s piano concertos for Challenge Classics. Other future concert highlights include Liszt’s Totentanz and a new concerto by Robert Zuidam with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Markus Stenz – at which occiasion he will be awarded the Dutch Music Prize by the Dutch Minister of Culture – and Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Daniele Rustioni.

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Composer(s)

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include nine symphonies, five piano concertos, one violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. Together with Mozart and Haydn, he was part of the First Viennese School. Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn, and gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost totally deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose; many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life.

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Press

''Here tone can be a bit sharp, but her intense musical talent and the fact that she's playing together with Hannes Minnaar makes it al up.''
NRC Handelsblad, 28-7-2016

Airplay BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3, 13-2-2016

N.A.
Yomiuri Newspaper, 24-7-2015

"The recording as a whole has class."
Luister, 06-3-2015

"The intelligent mixture of historically informed, traditionally characterized and sharply analytical playing is truly convincing."
Pizzicato, 27-2-2015

Klara's Top 10 ! "There are many superb integral recordiongs of the violinsonantas of Beethoven, but this one [..] with two Dutch top musicians, deserves a spot on top of the list." "[...]an irresistible mixture of classical purity, poetry and spontaneous vitality."
Klara's Top 10, 23-2-2015

5 Tuning forks (diapasons)!! "What ideas, alacrity, strength of conviction! Van Keulen’s Beethoven speaks, moves, describes his mood swings and rejoices. [...]The violinist demonstrates great authority, to the side of the Dutch pianist Hannes Minnaar who by naturalness and phantasy, reminds us of a young Friedrich Gulda."
Diapason, 23-2-2015

"Van Keulen en Minnaar play as if they are a duo for years: the same intense approach, the same energy."
Trouw, 23-1-2015

***
La Libre Culture, 21-1-2015

"Dark, whispering lines of Van Keulen above the incentive chords in the Adagio espessivo of the Tenth Sonata - unrivalled."
NRC Handelsblad, 19-1-2015

Both perform on the highest level, technically wide above the tracks and shape the continous dialog of equal partners, which is demanded from Beethoven all the time, in a confident way. (...) Isabelle van Keulen's playing of the violin is sparkling clean and full of colours and nuances, her sophisticated sound and her brilliant technique corresponds perfectly with the piano playing of Hannes Minnaar.
Fono Forum, 14-1-2015

Recommendation of the month
Fono Forum, 14-1-2015

"Als het gaat om veelzijdigheid is niemand zo snel als de Nederlandse violist Isabelle van Keulen."
Fono Forum, 12-1-2015

["].. The lingering melodious Adagio was wondrously beautiful. With eyes closed it was compliant - the name of the symphony- dreaminf well of a winter landscape with all of that vastness and romance."
Eindhovens Dagblad, 15-12-2014

This week Plaatpaal
Radio 4 Diskotabel, 10-12-2014

["].. Van Keulen en Minnaar are slightly more adventurous, inquisitive, and therefore perhaps still slightly more exciting."
Klassiek Centraal, 01-12-2014

WIN CD in newsletter and website AVROTROS (RADIO4)
Nieuwsbrief en website AVROTROS klassiek (Radio4), 17-11-2014

I would certainly recommend this set, especially for what it is: shedding a different light on, and giving another insight in Ludwig van Beethoven’s oeuvre for piano and violin.
SA-CD.net, 12-11-2014