Ludwig van Beethoven.(Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonatas)(Sound Recording Review)

Ludwig van Beethoven. Sonatas. Henryk Szeryng; Gary Graffman. Bridge 9165, 2005.

Violinist Henryk Szeryng and pianist Gary Graffman were something of a match made in heaven. Both understood Beethoven's sonatas for violin and piano in accordance with what seem to have been the intentions of the composer himself--as duets between two equal instruments rather than as a speech by the violin with self-effacing accompaniment by the piano. (Indeed, Beethoven's notes in early editions of the works seem to indicate that he actually saw the violin as the secondary instrument, an attitude shared by Mozart in regard to his own sonatas for piano and violin.) That both Szeryng and Graffman were respectful and insightful interpreters of Beethoven in general made their pairing even more felicitous, of course. These recordings date from December 1970, when the two performers met in a series of ...