Beethoven: Sonatina Lunatica (Violin Sonatas Nos. 9 & 10)

Album review

Vienna. 1803. George Bridgetower, a violinist of Afro-European descent, causes furore with his virtuosity and captivates Beethoven, who writes a devilish and magnificent sonata for his unique and exotic character. Despite the premiere’s enormous success performed by both of them, an unfortunate comment by the violinist about one of the composer’s female friends leads to this famous sonata being finally re-dedicated to Rodolphe Kreutzer, who however would never interpret it because of its enormous difficulty.
Ten years later, Beethoven composes his next and last violin sonata, dedicated to Pierre Rode, in a completely different character, enormously poetic and introverted. Written in the stage of Beethoven’s life widely associated with his “Immortal Beloved”, the sonata nevertheless retains his incomparable energy.

Described as “Fiery virtuoso” (The Strad) “the Soul Violinist” (Sankei Shinbun) or “Devil’s fiddler” (Bayerischer Rundfunk), Lina Tur Bonet joins now Aurelia Visovan, the 2019 winner of the MA Competition in Bruges, to celebrate the german composer in these Sonatas. After an intense investigation, inspired among others by Clive Brown’s extensive research on the topic, a daring and innovative version is offered, combining Beethovenian’s fire, poetry and humour with the search for the authentic. © Passacaille