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

• 1van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2: I. Allegro con brio07:50
• 2van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2: II. Adagio cantabile09:49
• 3van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2: III. Scherzo. Allegro03:12
• 4van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2: IV. Finale. Allegro05:11
• 5van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3: I. Allegro con spirito08:23
• 6van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3: II. Adagio con molt' espressione07:09
• 7van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3: III. Rondo. Allegro molto04:13
• 8van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30, No. 3: I. Allegro assai06:26
• 9van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30, No. 3: II. Tempo di minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso08:01
• 10van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30, No. 3: III. Allegro vivace03:30
• Total Runtime01:03:44

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

Within a very short time of about 10 years, Beethoven's technique of composing developed rapidly. The artists on this recording wanted to show the comparison between earlier and later pieces, and this is the basis of this new series of recordings. of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas on three volumes.

".....Weithaas and Varjon have a great deal to say and are not afraid to say it, but their focus of interest is always and emphatically Beethoven - not themselves." (MusicWeb Intern'l July 23)

Both artists are highly in demand on a worldwide scale as unique, exceptional chamber music performers: Antje Weithaas and Denes Varjon each ideally combine the highest degree of enthusiasm and precision: their energetic, passionate playing is the result of intense concentration and precision, combined with a large portion of musicality.

"In Antje Weithaas's und Denes Varjon's complete edition of these sonatas in three volumes, each individual release is designed to illustrate those stages of artistic development (instead of featuring the works in strict chronological order). From the onset, Beethoven ascribed utter importance to the principle of dialogue between the two instruments, as we can infer from a letter he wrote to Artaria on 19 June 1793.....

The current Vol. 2 release contrasts the third sonata (in E Flat Major) of the early Op. 12 group with the second and third sonatas of Op. 30. The album begins with the C Minor Sonata Op. 30, which is undoubtedly one of the two most dramatic sonatas among all ten works in the same genre (the other one being the "Kreutzer" Sonata Op. 47). The E Flat Major sonata is also the most dramatic one within Op. 12. On the other hand, the last sonata (G Major) in Op. 30 provides a contrast in the form of a cheerful "final dance" (Kehraus), a function it also fulfills on this album in the wake of the E Flat Major Sonata Op. 12. " (Excerpt from the booklet notes by Elisabeth Richter)

Antje Weithaas, violin
Denes Varjon, piano

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