Complete Violin Sonatas
Violin-piano teams are surprisingly rare among chamber music combinations, and the Dumay-Pires duo is one of the most renowned. Their partnership began 12 years ago with Beethoven's "Spring" Sonata; this recording project took from 1997 to 2002 to complete. Though they admit to having differences of opinion and indeed at some points seem to have agreed to disagree, the performances show the fruits of their long, close collaboration in the perfection of ensemble, balance, and stylistic unanimity. Both players are consummate masters of their instrument and possess the effortless brilliance of virtuosos, but their interpretations, though carefully planned and thought out, are likely to raise a lot of eyebrows.Their playing is predominantly loud and frequently strident. The piano sounds clangorous, and while the violinist's tone can soar, he uses an unremittingly fast, intense vibrato (or none at all for sudden changes of color). Their style is large-scale and heroic, but driven and aggressive. To achieve utmost contrast, they overdo everything: dynamics are excessive; tempos, though generally sensible, change at will; impetuosity becomes turbulence; drama chaotic abandon. Most disturbing, they blithely ignore Beethoven's meticulous markings, adding and eliminating dynamics, changing note lengths, choosing bowings for instrumental convenience, not phrasing and articulation. In this heavy-handed approach, charm, lightness, delicacy, and emotional continuity are lost, and character and expression are projected through exaggerated external effects rather than inner experience. One cannot help wondering why it is so often the best players who tend to take the easy way out. Listeners will find their own favorite sonatas and interpretations, from the bright, youthful exuberance of No. 1 to the calm serenity of No. 10.--Edith Eisler