Beethoven: Violin Sonatas (Midori/Thibaudet)

Beethoven
Violin Sonatas Nos 1-10
Midori (violin), Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano)
Warner Classics 5419721536   236:09 mins (3 discs)

Midori and Jean-Yves Thibaudet have been friends for years, but this is their first album together. Why did they wait so long? The result is a gleaming, gorgeous journey through Beethoven’s ten violin sonatas, revealing a flourishing musical partnership. Every note has been thought through, but there’s an appealing freshness to the playing that keeps the music in the moment.

A case in point: there’s a delicious shared buoyancy in the bold gestures that open the First Sonata in D major, followed by a subtle shift in focus as the violin sings long-breathed lines over the more prominent piano part. Throughout the set, the conversation between the two musicians is nuanced and engaging. Yet there’s never a let up in energy or vivacity: it bubbles away in the Second Sonata’s first movement, for instance, and nervily fizzes in the Fourth Sonata.

There’s a big heart to these performances, and a sense that whatever struggles the music goes through there’s always hope at the end. The ten sonatas span Beethoven’s life from the age of 26 to 41, and even if there’s evolution in his style from the elegant Classicism of the First to, say, the unpredictability of the Ninth Sonata, Midori and Thibaudet approach each with equal commitment. The ‘Spring’ Sonata (No. 5) has an irresistible ease and charm, while they lean into the turbulent drama of the C minor No. 7. Just one quibble – could they have brought out the distinctive character of each sonata even more? Perhaps. But the Tenth and final Sonata in G major is an ideal showcase for two players whose virtuosity and warmth are never in question.

Rebecca Franks