A concert with Nikolaj Znaider (violin)

Ludwig van Beethoven completed his Violin Sonata Op. 30 No 3 in the summer of 1802 in Heiligenstadt, and it was published one year later with a dedication to Emperor Alexander I of Russia. Beethoven subsequently composed his Piano Sonata No 16 (Op. 31, No 1), also in G Major. They have much in common, particularly in the first movements: the dynamism, the abundance of passages, the stormy development and the incessant sequence of musical events.
In the second movement the relationship between the instruments changes. In the energetic passages of the first movement they frequently come together, whereas here they alternately accompany one another, and often the violin tactfully has to cede its “pole position”. It was not by chance that the cover of the first edition of the sonatas, Op. 30, published by the Vienna Bureau of Arts and Industry, read “Sonatas for Piano Accompanied by Violin”.
The finale is written in Beethoven’s beloved genre of contredanse. It is one of Beethoven’s most simple and energetic rondos – without any composition “gimmicks” albeit with humoristic details. While the pianist’s right hand competes with the violin in terms of speed, the left hand returns to a measured “drum bass” on just one note. Many pianists disguise this “primitive” element of the finale, though Beethoven actually wanted this to be emphasised, particularly on the final page of the score.
Anna Bulycheva

Allegro assai
Tempo di minuetto
Allegro vivace

Igor Stravinsky’s Divertimento for Violin and Piano is the composer’s own arrangement of highlights from his allegorical ballet Le Baiser de la fée. The composer wrote the ballet in the summer of 1928 having been commissioned by the dancer Ida Rubinstein. The libretto was based on fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen. To a great extent, the music is formed from themes from works by Tchaikovsky. The idea of a ballet in the style of Tchaikovsky belonged to the production designer Alexandre Benois. Even the choice of romances and piano pieces used by Stravinsky was dictated by the designer.
The premiere of the ballet Le Baiser de la fée took place at the Opéra de Paris on 27 November 1928, with Stravinsky himself conducting. And on 4 November 1934 he conducted the Paris premiere of the orchestral Divertimento, consisting of highlights of the ballet. At this period, Stravinsky frequently performed on the stage and was in great need of concert repertoire. The Divertimento features four parts: Sinfonia, Danses suisses, Scherzo and Pas de deux. Also in 1934, Stravinsky created an arrangement of the Divertimento for violin and piano.
Anna Bulychova

Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op 7, were written by Anton Webern in 1910 and assumed their final form in 1914. Between the two dates, the composer experienced an artistic crisis and had undergone psychoanalysis. Webern stepped carefully into this new musical space, one where there was no longer any tonality but just twelve equally important notes divided by semi-notes. He produced supremely laconic pieces (what a pity that the composer did not live until the era of ringtones!).
In the first piece there are just nine bars, and it is only in the violin part that Webern succeeds in employing the flageolet with mute, col legno and pizzicato. In this music everything is fleeting, it flows through the fingers, neither allowing it to be truly listened to nor remembered. In the edgy mobility of the second piece there is something of panic.
The pieces have no titles, though they were almost certainly not conceived as abstract works. In the piano part one can make out the intonations of a plastique and languorous waltz, which the performers are free to enhance or conceal. On numerous occasions Webern declared that it should be performed dolcissimo, while the end of the third piece should be “barely heard”. The fourth piece literally dissolves in silence: the violins sound a “puff of wind” while the piano phrases are again dolcissimo.
Anna Bulychova

César Franck’s Violin Sonata was composed in 1886 when the composer was sixty-three and it was dedicated to his friend, the world-famous violinist Eugène Ysaÿe.
Franck gave the manuscript of the sonata to Ysaÿe as a wedding present. The first performance of the sonata took place on Ysaÿe’s wedding day on 26 September 1886 after just one rehearsal. “Nothing on this earth could be a greater honour to me or give me greater pleasure. It is a present not just to me, but to the entire world; to perform it as it should be performed I will do everything in my power as an artiste and a passionate admirer of the genius of ‘papa Franck,’ as yet un-acclaimed... I will play you this sonata the way I understand it, and I will try to convey what my heart tells me,” Ysaÿe said of the sonata before performing it. Later this work would go on to form not just part of the chamber repertoires of violinists but of cellists and clarinettists as well.
The first movement of the sonata – light and idyllic – is laid out laconically; it is only in the second theme that Franck’s typical feeling of passionate languor bursts through. The second movement is rich in diverse shades of emotions, though it is dominated by an anxious and restless mood. The third movement – Recitative-Fantasia – forms the dramatic core of the sonata. Initially we can hear pastoral calls from the first movement, but in terms of character they are more tense and improvisational; then come two new themes: the first is tenderly poetic and the second “sweeping” and powerfully single-minded. The music of the finale, written in the form of a rondo, exudes spiritual peace and heartfelt warmth.