Search - Ludwig van Beethoven :: Beethoven: Violin Sonatas

According to this new label, a product of the prestigious Folger Consort, these are "historically informed performances." As musicologist Richard Taruskin frequently points out, our re-creations of early performance practice reflect our culture as much as the composers'. The playing on this disc sounds thoroughly modern, with its aggressive, clear, unsentimental approach to the music. If you're turning to "historically informed" playing and instruments, you want to hear something different from what most players of modern instruments offer. And that you certainly do get on this disc, with its relatively astringent tonal qualities (compared with Strads and Steinways) and fine balance between the parts. The overall effect is quite exciting, and does give us something worth hearing. It may or may not be what Beethoven expected, but it makes his music come alive. Amusingly, the photo of the performers shows Schipull at a harpsichord! --Leslie Gerber