A surprising number of
composers wrote only one sonata for violin and piano: Leos Janacek,
César Franck, Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, Debussy, Ravel. The
list really also includes Prokofiev, whose somewhat lightweight
second sonata is an adaptation of a flute sonata, and Robert
Schumann, whose second sonata is very small beer compared with the
first. Gabriel Fauré also wrote a second sonata that has nowhere
near the stature of the first. Elgar wrote one sonata for violin and
piano, as did Guillaume Lekeu and Albéric Magnard; many composers
wrote none at all. Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, of course, wrote many
sonatas for violin and keyboard, and Brahms wrote three (very good
ones, too).This occurred to me forcibly listening to a CD recital yesterday.
Some three years ago in
this blog I warmly praised Josef Spacek's CD of Janacek,
Smetana and Prokofiev. Having listened to it again yesterday,
I praise it again; it's a superb CD, and really well recorded.
Janacek's ever-fascinating sonata is played warmly. Prokofiev's first
sonata for violin and piano has all the tension and spikiness that I
missed in Lisa Oshima's recent CD, and Spacek is greatly aided by his
piano partner, Miroslav Sekera. Great
music, well played and recorded. Supraphon does some good things for
a small label in a small country.
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