Brahms: Violin Sonatas Nos 1-3; Sonatensatz

Brahms
Violin Sonatas Nos 1-3; Sonatensatz
Ning Feng (violin), Zee Zee (piano)
Channel Classics CCS43423   73:00 mins

The Brahms violin sonatas, at least for me, never grow stale. Despite their luscious beauty, they are sparely written, tightly constructed, with never a bow-hair out of place, and poetry in every bar. They are late works – Brahms did not set about the first until 1878-79, despite having worked with the great violinist Joseph Joachim since he was barely 20; his only earlier surviving effort is the Scherzo from the ‘F-A-E’ Sonata, co-created for Joachim with Robert Schumann and Albert Dietrich. Brahms is also not above basing elements of the first two sonatas on some of his Lieder. ‘Regenlied’ – Rain Song – is mirrored in the finale of the G major; its flowing, longing atmosphere permeates the whole work. The Second Sonata is haunted not only by Brahms’s own ‘Wie Melodien’, but also the Prize Song from Wagner’s Meistersinger (that’s another story…).

Ning Feng and Zee Zee join an inevitably gigantic cavalcade of recordings and there is a great deal to enjoy in their playing. From the beginning there’s a superb rapport between them; they create rapt, almost candlelit atmospheres that can pull you in and hold you through to the end.

This rarified air has one downside: Brahms’s reuse of his own Lieder suggests that he is possibly thinking of a singer’s voice, but Feng’s sometimes slightly over-precious sound leaves room for a more direct, firm-centred and quasi-vocal approach. The sonatas’ different characters are also not wholly clear; they come across almost as one work in nine movements (ten with the ‘F-A-E’ Scherzo) instead of three distinct universes.

Jessica Duchen