Brahms – Schumann Yuuko Shiokawa & András Schiff

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78:
• 1 Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78: I. Vivace ma non troppo 10:18
• 2 Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78: II. Adagio 07:14
• 3 Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78: III. Allegro molto moderato 09:01
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121:
• 4 Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121: I. Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft 13:12
• 5 Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121: II. Sehr lebhaft 04:41
• 6 Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121: III. Leise, einfach 05:58
• 7 Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121: IV. Bewegt 09:53
• Total Runtime 01:00:17

Info for Brahms – Schumann

After tackling the sonatas for violin and piano of Bach, Busoni and Beethoven in 2017 – a “thoughtfully determined and subtly interconnected programme” according to Strad magazine –, the duo of Yuuko Shiokawa and András Schiff returns with striking renditions of Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 1 and Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 2. When the violinist and pianist made their first joint appearance on the label with the 2000 recording of Schubert’s C major fantasy for violin and piano, Gramophone magazine was in awe with their performance, raving how “from the start, there's an air of magic,” and calling the renditions “interpretations of rare penetration and individuality: a must for the Schubert section in your collection.” Now turning their gaze to the Schubert-admirer Schumann and his contemporary Brahms, the duo offers a deeper look into core repertory of Romantic chamber music.

Brahms’s First Violin Sonata in G major, known as the “Regenliedsonate” (Rain Sonata)”, with its final movement incorporating motifs from his two songs “Regenlied” (Rain Song) and “Nachklang” (Lingering Sound), is presented in an evocative guise. In his liner note, Wolfgang Stähr notes how, from those two previous songs, “Brahms adopts not only the theme, but also the “rainy,” onomatopoeic, dripping piano accompaniment. He had given these two poetically and melodically linked songs to his lifelong friend Clara Schumann for her 54th birthday.” In an overwhelmed response, she wrote she couldn’t believe “that anyone feels about this tune as rapturously and wistfully as I do.” The motif from the “Regenlied” appears twice, its triple d in dotted rhythm opening both the first and the third movement, bringing the overreaching theme full circle.

The Brahms sonata stands in an inviting juxtaposition with Schumann’s at times vigorously driving Sonata in D minor. Completed almost 30 years prior, in 1851, the sonata was premièred by Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim in 1853 – the link between Clara Schumann and Brahms kept well maintained. That same year, Brahms and Schumann, together with Albert Dietrich, composed the collaborative F-A-E Sonata, whose c minor scherzo, contributed by Brahms, was most likely inspired by the second movement in b minor of this Schumann sonata.

Devoting themselves completely to the music of these composer-friends, Yuuko Shiokawa and András Schiff once again display their own rare duo understanding throughout their third collective undertaking for ECM’s New Series. Recorded at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, the album was produced by Manfred Eicher.

The recording can be viewed in both the context of the duo’s longstanding collaborative partnership in chamber music and Schiff’s more recent deeper foray into the music of Brahms, which includes the 2020 recording of the composer’s clarinet sonatas alongside Jörg Widmann and the critically acclaimed 2021 recording of Brahms’s piano concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (“A vibrant new recording - Mr. Schiff and the outstanding players make [the concertos] sound intimate and human-scale.” – New York Times

Yuuko Shiokawa, violin
András Schiff, piano

Yuuko Shiokawa
was born in Tokyo and took up the violin at the age of five. After moving with her family to Peru, she continued her musical studies in Lima with Eugen Cremer, formerly a member of the Berlin Philharmonic. At 15, she came to Germany, where she studied with William Stross and Sándor Végh. Hans Rosbaud, one of her early supporters, introduced her to Rafael Kubelik, who was to become her mentor.

She played her first concert under Kubelik in 1965, subsequently also working with Herbert von Karajan, Herbert Blomsted and other leading conductors. Yuuko Shiokawa has given concerts with many orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the London Symphony, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo. Her multi- faceted chamber music activities have included solo recitals world-wide, sonata evenings with Bruno Canino and András Schiff and performance cycles of the collected sonatas for violin and piano of W.A. Mozart. Yuuko Shiokawa is also a member of the Cappella Andrea Barca, founded by András Schiff in 1999.

András Schiff
was born in Budapest, Hungary and started piano lessons at the age of five with Elisabeth Vadász. Subsequently he continued his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy with Professor Pál Kadosa, György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados, and later in London with George Malcolm.

Recitals and special cycles, including the major keyboard works of J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann and Bartók form an important part of his activities. Since 2004 he has performed complete cycles of the 32 Beethoven Sonatas worldwide and the cycle in the Tonhalle Zurich was recorded live for ECM New Series. His recordings of works by Schubert, Schumann, Janáček, Beethoven and Bach, have been released to the highest of critical acclaim. In 2016 ECM released Encores after Beethoven: a collection of encores performed after his Beethoven Cycle programs.

András Schiff has worked with most major international orchestras and conductors, but in recent years has performed mainly as a conductor and soloist. His chamber orchestra, the Cappella Andrea Barca, consists of international soloists, chamber musicians and friends. In addition to international tours with this orchestra, he works with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

He appears as conductor and soloist with the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony this season, in addition to over a dozen recitals in two North American visits. His other concert performances bring him to Europe, Australia, Japan, China, and South America.

From 1989-1998 András Schiff was Artistic Director of the "Musiktage Mondsee" chamber music festival near Salzburg. In 1995, together with Heinz Holliger, he founded the “Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte” in Koartause Ittingen, Switzerland. In 1998 he started a similar series, entitled "Hommage to Palladio" at the Teatro Olimpico in Vizenza.

András Schiff's book, Musik kommt aus der Stille, essays and conversations with Martin Meyer, was published in March 2017 by Bärenreiter and Henschel.

Booklet for Brahms – Schumann