Search - Curtis Macomber;Derek Han :: Sonatas for Violin and Piano

Splendid

David Saemann | 03/08/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not your super virtuoso's take on the Brahms Sonatas. If you are looking for the rich, plush tones of a young Isaac Stern or Anne-Sophie Mutter, you won't find them here. Curtis Macomber's playing is beautifully articulated, with spot on intonation. It is not plush. What we have here is real chamber music playing rather than a star turn. Derek Han's playing is rich sounding and also full of fine articulation. Together, these artists make sense of the works rather than overplay them. It was a good decision to place the first Sonata last on the disc. In this performance, it is structurally the biggest of the works, with the greatest reserves of melancholy. Throughout their interpretations, Macomber and Han make much of pacing and structure. While their performances don't grip you outright, like the famous Oistrakh/Richter collaboration in No. 3, you however will understand this music to a degree I find quite rare. Also, they produce a welcoming chamber sonority, which I expect to return to with comfort very often. The sound engineering, from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, is excellent for the violin and a little muddy for the piano. Still, this is a treasurable disc."