Four sonatas from the crucial period around 1802, the year in which Beethoven experienced a profound personal crisis and railed against the despair of his increasing deafness in an emotional letter, the ‘Heiligenstädter Testament’. In these sonatas, the emotional charge of Beethoven’s musical vision can be felt. Sonata no. 3, opus 12 still displays the formal clarity of the young composer, but it does not conceal his ambition. The three Sonatas, opus 30 expand the spectrum of sound: lyricism, irony and dramatic tension exist side by side. In particular, no. 7 in C minor – the product of a period of personal crisis – reveals how Beethoven used the traditional sonata model to give his inner demons free rein.
Program
L. van Beethoven: Violin Sonata no. 3 in Es major, opus 12 no. 3 | Violin Sonata no. 6 in A major, opus 30 no. 1 | Violin Sonata no. 7 in C minor, opus 30 no. 2 | Violin Sonata no. 8 in G major, opus 30 no. 3
Performers
Viktoria Mullova, violin | Alasdair Beatson, fortepiano