Wholenote Discoveries - February 2011
Despite his undisputed talents, I’ve always been a bit unsure of how I feel about the playing of the French violinist Renaud Capuçon. When I first started listening to his new 3-CD set with Frank Braley I didn’t think that was going to change, but I was wrong. True, the early Op.12 sonatas do seem to get off to a lacklustre start, but Capuçon and Braley have been working on this project for 14 years, and it soon shows. The second CD opens with a beautiful reading of the “Spring” sonata, and the quality never lags. There’s a terrific No.7 - the C minor - and a marvellous “Kreutzer”, with a particularly superb opening movement. Throughout, tempos seem perfectly judged, and there’s a wonderful range of dynamics. The balance feels a bit uneven at first, with the piano possibly a bit far back, but it actually enables the individual players to be clearly heard, and their obvious understanding to emerge. And what an understanding it is. I realized I didn’t know some of these sonatas as well as I thought; this outstanding set is a tremendous and welcome way to put that right. Terry Robbins
Gramophone Editor's Choice - November 2010
“These sonatas are full of memories for me. The ‘Spring’ Sonata was the first piece of Beethoven I played, when I was ten years old. His music is a rite of passage for every violinist.” - Renaud Capuçon
This complete recording of Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano grows from a marathon performance project that Renaud Capuçon and Frank Braley launched in their native France in Summer 2009: some 50 concerts around Europe, all devoted to the Beethoven sonatas.
