Search - Curtis Macomber / Marija Stroke :: Grieg: Sonatas For Violin & Piano

GRANDLY GRIEG

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 02/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This new Arabesque release of Grieg's three Sonatas for Violin and Piano immediately captures the attention by programming the works in reverse chronological order, thus plunging us headlong. Initially bemused by this detail, I quickly saw the musical wisdom behind it: Waylay the listener at the ears by the most "modern" and conceptually affecting sonata, which also happens to be Grieg's last chamber work (not that this is a major issue, since he only composed five), and then regress him. It's a stunning notion, and it works. After years of beginning with the first sonata, and ending with the third, not vice versa, I had been comforted by the temporal known; now, however, my perspective changed entirely.Violin Sonata No. 3 in Cm, Op. 45 [1887] launches out as if possessed, the first movement hovering between agitated breathlessness and quietudes of lyricism--- all very immediate and involving. This is Grieg at a stretch, belied by the nostalgic central Romanza, which the composer might have culled from any number of his charming piano pieces, and the jaunty, folk-like finale, with its deep-throated, brooding middle section and passionate climax. Violinist Curtis Macomber gives a bravura performance of a complex emotional work, accompanied intrepidly by pianist Marija Stroke.Sonata No. 2 in G, Op. 13 [1867] is so drenched in Norwegian angst that Grieg referred to it as his "national" sonata. Easy to hear why. From the opening Lento/Allegro, to the ripplingly blatant Animato finale, one is ensconced completely by all the musical elements that we have come to know form the composer's muse. Less aggressive than Sonata No. 3, the G Major still shows considerable verve; yet, its moments of tenderness are frequent.Arriving at Sonata No. 1 in F, Op. 8 [1865] is, for me, like coming home. Here Grieg is at his most persuasively romantic, his most fanciful. Only twenty-two at the time, he was flexing, not stretching. He was ardent, but contained; folksy, but not rampant. In this "seedling" sonata, the roots have just begun to show. We can hear where the development will take the composer---because we've just come from there. Given this overview, the sonata becomes that much more innocent and delightful.No qualms about the excellent performances of Macomber and Stroke, nor the striking panache and sensitivity they bring to all the works. They are, both, time travelers. We, too.[Running time: 70:47]"