Violin Sonata Op. posth. 262, D574
Fantasy Op. posth. 159, D934
Rondo Op. 70, D895
Viktoria Mullova Violin
Alasdair Beatson Fortepiano
Signum Classics SIGCD706
Full Price
The Review
There is an attractive smokiness to Viktoria Mullova’s playing on gut strings which gives these performances a truly domestic chamber feeling, far removed from the modern concert hall.
The period appropriateness of her playing is matched by Alisdair Beatson’s on Paul McNulty’s copy of an 1819 Graf piano, all recorded last September in studios in Yorkshire and produced by Mullova’s husband, the cellist Matthew Barley. The sense of this being a labour of love shines through.
For me the violin is slightly too prominent in the balance, cutting through the delicate fortepiano sound with fierce insistence and occasionally obscuring the subtlety of Beatson’s accompaniment. This is a shame because Mullova is clearly highly attentive to her partner’s phrasing, especially where the fortepiano takes the lead in setting tempo and flow, for example in the opening and middle section of the lovely Fantasy; and when delicate rumblings of the piano are set against the violin’s sustained medody before they break into the tumultuous dance of the last few minutes. But the violin’s forward placing often makes the attacks feel brash. It helps to sit well back from the speakers.
That is the only criticism, however. Mullova has followed Isobel Faust in discovering the joys of playing early Romantic music on strings that are designed for mellowness of tone rather than projection. I don’t know whether she has altered her bowing style too but in the Sonata she finds a gentleness for the opening Allegro and the Andantino that I suspect would have been less evident thirty years ago – while in the faster movements all her agility and vivacity moves the music along with proper drive.
Signum’s presentation of the disc is minimalist, almost perfunctory: no liner notes, just a few remarks by Beatson on the inside fold of the cardboard cover. Frankly playing (and music) of this quality and thoughtfulness deserves more discussion, while it cannot be assumed that everyone knows, or should have to rely on Wikipedia for, the performers’ biographies. Simplicity is fine but this feels like not bothering. Once the disc is on the player, though, there is an awful lot to enjoy.
SM