Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 3, 7 & 8 Antje Weithaas & Dénes Várjon

• 1 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2: I. Allegro con brio 07:50
• 2 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2: II. Adagio cantabile 09:49
• 3 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2: III. Scherzo. Allegro 03:12
• 4 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2: IV. Finale. Allegro 05:11
• 5 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3: I. Allegro con spirito 08:23
• 6 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3: II. Adagio con molt' espressione 07:09
• 7 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3: III. Rondo. Allegro molto 04:13
• 8 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30, No. 3: I. Allegro assai 06:26
• 9 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30, No. 3: II. Tempo di minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso 08:01
• 10 van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30, No. 3: III. Allegro vivace 03:30
• Total Runtime 01:03:44

Info for Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 3, 7 & 8

Das Prinzip des Vergleichs zwischen früh und später ist die Grundlage der neuen Aufnahme von Beethovens Violinsonaten auf drei Bänden.

Die Violonistin ANTJE WEITHAAS genießt weltweit einen immensen Ruf, wird für ihre Musikalität und atemberaubende Instrumentaltechnik bewundert. Dénes Várjon, der ungarische Pianist ist ein idealer Partner für Antje Weithaas; mit seiner Musikalität und seinem Spiel ist er ein sehr starker und gleichwertiger musikalischer Partner. Beide sind äußerst gefragt als überragende Kammermusiker weltweit: Antje Weithaas and Dénes Várjon kombinieren jeder auf seine Weise den höchsten Enthusiasmus und Präzision. Ihr energiereiches und leidenschaftliches Spiel ist das Resultat einer starken Konzentration, Werktreue und der richtigen Interpretation von Beethoven Noten, und ihrer beiden Musikalität.

“Alle drei Volumina der Gesamteinspielung mit Antje Weithaas und Dénes Várjon verdeutlichen die beschriebenen Entwicklungsstufen. Sie folgen nicht der Chronologie der Entstehung. Wie sehr Beethoven aber das dialogische Prinzip von Anfang an am Herzen lag, beweist eine Äußerung aus einem Brief vom 19. Juni 1793 an den Verlag Artaria... Das hier vorliegende Volume II stellt die dritte (Es-Dur-) Sonate der frühen Werkgruppe Op. 12 der zweiten (c-Moll-) und der dritten (G-Dur-) Sonate der Werkgruppe Op. 30 gegenüber. Es beginnt mit der Sonate c-Moll Op. 30, sie ist mit der Kreutzer-Sonate Op. 47 sicher die dramatischste der zehn Beethoven-Violinsonaten. Die Sonate Es-Dur ist innerhalb der Werkgruppe Op. 12 das dramatischste Werk. Die letzte Sonate G-Dur der Werkgruppe Op. 30 hat die Funktion eines heiteren „Kehraus“ als Kontrast. Sie hat auch auf diesem Album - nach der Es-Dur-Sonate Op. 12 - diese Funktion

Antje Weithaas, Violine
Denes Varjon, Klavier

Antje Weithaas
Brimming with energy, Antje Weithaas brings her compelling musical intelligence and technical mastery to every detail in the score. Her charisma and stage presence are captivating, but never overshadow the works themselves. Her wide-ranging repertoire encompasses a large portion of major concerto and chamber music works from the Baroque age to the present day.

As a soloist, she has made appearances with a great number of orchestras in Europe and around the globe, collaborating with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dmitri Kitayenko, Sir Neville Marriner, Marc Albrecht, Yakov Kreizberg, Sakari Oramo, and Carlos Kalmar.

With her infectious zest for communication, Antje Weithaas has become a sought-after leader in “Play-Conduct concerts” with internationally renowned chamber orchestras. She was Artistic Director of the Camerata Bern for almost ten years and still returns to work with them on a regular basis.

Her concerts as Associated Artist of the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris in the 2021/22 season led to an immediate re-invitation.

Weithaas’s recordings include the solo sonatas of Bach and Ysaÿe, the Ligeti horn trio, Beethoven quartets, Schubert trios, and the violin concertos of Beethoven, Schumann, Berg, and Khachaturian. More than anything else, Antje Weihaas is a chamber music musician par excellence and is playing with many high qualified partners.

She won the Kreisler Competition in Graz in 1987 and the Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1988, as well as the renowned Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hanover in 1991. Together with Oliver Wille, she recently assumed the artistic directorship of the Joachim competition. After teaching at the Berlin University of the Arts, Antje Weithaas was appointed to a chair at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in 2004, where she has acquired a pre-eminent worldwide reputation as a violin teacher. She plays on a 2001 Peter Greiner violin.

Dénes Várjon
Várjon’s sensational technique, profound musicianship, and wide range of interests have made him one of the most thrilling and highly regarded pianists on the international music scene. Várjon is a universal musician: an excellent soloist, a first-class chamber musician, an artistic director of music festivals, and a highly sought-after piano pedagogue. Widely acknowledged as a preeminent chamber musician, Várjon works on a regular with illustrious partners such as Steven Isserlis, Antje Weithaas, Tabea Zimmermann, Kim Kashkashian, Jörg Widmann, Leonidas Kavakos, András Schiff, Heinz Holliger, Miklós Perényi, and Joshua Bell. As a soloist, he is a welcome guest at major concert series, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Vienna’s Konzerthaus and London’s Wigmore Hall.

He is frequently invited to work with many of the world’s leading symphony orchestras: Budapest, Zurich, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Russian National Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, collaborating with eminent conductors, including Sir Georg Solti, Sándor Végh, Iván Fischer, Ádám Fischer, Heinz Holliger, Horst Stein, Leopold Hager, and Zoltán Kocsis. He appears on a regular basis at leading international festivals from Marlboro to Salzburg and Edinburgh.

Dénes Varjón has recorded for the Naxos, Capriccio, ECM, PAN-Classics (CH) and Hungaroton labels with critical acclaim. In 2015 he recorded the Schumann piano concerto with the WDR Symphonieorchester and Heinz Holliger, and all five Beethoven piano concertos with Concerto Budapest and András Keller.

In 1991, Dénes Várjon graduated from the Franz Liszt Music Academy Budapest, where his professors included Sándor Falvai, György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados.

In parallel with his studies, he participated as actively in international master classes imparted by András Schiff. Dénes Várjon won first prize at the Piano Competition of Hungarian Radio, at the Leó Weiner Chamber Music Competition in Budapest, and at the Géza Anda Competition in Zurich. He is a recipient of the Liszt Prize, the Sándor Veress Prize, and the Bartók-Pásztory Prize. In 2020 he received Hungary’s foremost award in the area of culture, the Kossuth Prize. Mr. Várjon works also for Henle Urtext Editions.

Booklet for Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 3, 7 & 8