The violin sonata: refined chamber music for a Sunday afternoon tea party? Let’s banish that to the realm of fables, because Ludwig van Beethoven mercilessly smashes all the teacups. Between 1797 and 1812, he wrote ten sonatas that broke the genre open. What was still officially called music ‘for the pianoforte with violin’ soon became a duel between equal opponents. The piano refused the role of accompanist. The violin wanted to be more than merely decorative. The traditional allies had had enough of murmuring dialogue and friendly back-and forth; from now on they would bicker, flirt and provoke.
The early sonatas shocked Vienna with their capricious modulations and quirky logic. In his later works, Beethoven would tinker with conventions of form, use humour as a stylistic element or explore ways of making two instruments sound like an orchestra. The Kreutzer Sonata is so grand and tumultuous it seems more like a concerto than chamber music. And what to make of his last Violin Sonata, opus 96? Not a hellfire sermon, but smouldering conviction: a Beethoven who had learned to whisper without compromising on power.
Attending the performance of these ten sonatas – spread over three recitals – is no marathon, but rather a unique opportunity to see a true-to-life sound picture of Beethoven’s growth spurt emerging. In Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson, we encounter two musicians who don’t polish their music but let it grate. She is uncompromising, precise and expressive. He is analytical, colourful and subtle. Together, they are a close duo who have been exploring these sonatas for years, making them speak a language that stays close to the sound of Beethoven’s world: Mullova on her Guadagnini, strung with gut strings (Milan, 1750), and Beatson on a Viennese fortepiano made by Johann Fritz (1811). Three recitals. Two big names. Ten confrontations. And one composer who rewrites the rules at the very moment he throws the dice.
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