You gotta hear this – free classical download #2
mainThe bicentenary of Robert Schumann’s birth had a pretty low-key reception in 2010, competing as it was against Chopin’s and against the recent 150th of Schumann’s death. Amid the recordings that came my way, one that pinned my ears back was the violinist Ilya Gringolts taking on the much-underplayed second sonata – and doing so with captivating zest.
http://www.onyxclassics.com/normanlebrecht/ONYX4053-5.mp3.zip
Schumann: Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor op.121 – II Sehr
lebhaft
Check the www.scena.org review:
Violin sonatas 1-3
(Onyx)
***
Ilya Gringolts and pianist Peter Laul take a sunny approach to the sonatas, a welcome change from the usual gloom and doom. The first two are mid-romantic meditations, the third a posthumous reconstruction. Gringolts is velvety and seductive in the softer passages, avoiding the pursuit of speed and showmanship, a natural storyteller.
The recording was issued on the Onyx label, a really interesting enterprise started five years ago by a pair of executive drop-outs from the crumbling corporate biz. Here is what I wrote about them at the time. I’m glad to see that many of their expectations (and mine) have been fulfilled. Enjoy Gringolts in Schumann. More to come in the festive days ahead.
Another beauty, Norman! It literally shines, both the performance and the very clear recording. I’ll keep coming back for the rest.
Also, the link for your article was broken, but I found it through scena.org. Here is the full link:
http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/050608-NL-designerlabel.html
Thank you again, Norman: to use an old phrase from U.S. Top 40 radio, “the hits just keep on comin’!”
Thanks, but please consider offering entire works. If this hurts business, it’s better to offer small single-movement pieces than to give away one part of a multi-movement work. It’s very frustrating.