Ludwig van Beethoven.(Sound Recording Review)

Ludwig van Beethoven. Sonatas for Violin and Piano Op. 12, 1-3; Variations in F Major; Rondo in G Major. Matthias Metzger; Gerrit Zitterbart. Hanssler Classic CD 98.462, 2004.

The debate over "authentic" performance practices that raged during the 1970s and 1980s has largely subsided, and it is now clear that the winning side was the one that favored the use of period instruments and "historically informed" performance practice. New recordings on modern instruments of works by Samuel Scheidt or Francesco Geminiani are as rare now as any recording at all of their work was before the late 1960s; even Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart now get the period-instrument treatment more often than not, and "authentic" performances of works from the romantic period have been in vogue for more than a decade. But the fact that the debate is essentially over does not mean that there remains nothing interesting to be said on the topic, and few statements carry as much weight as purely musical ones. Hence this fascinating two-disc set, on which violinist Matthias Metzger and pianist Gerrit Zitterbart play the exact same program of ...