Pre-Order: Alina Ibragimova * Beethoven: Vn Sons Ii [CD]

Following a first volume widely praised by critics, Alina Ibragimova and Cedric Tiberghien present the second volume in their landmark series devoted to Beethoven's complete violin sonatas on period instruments. This recording brings listeners as close as possible to the sound world contemporary audiences would have experienced at the turn of the nineteenth century.While the first release featured sonatas published under the traditional formula 'for harpsichord or fortepiano, with the accompaniment of a violin', the three works performed here - Nos 4, 6 and 7 - mark a turning point where keyboard and violin converse as true equals. Composed between 1800 and 1802, all three belong to Beethoven's fertile early period. No. 4, among his most turbulent early works, is dark and agitated. Nos 6 and 7 belong to the Op. 30 set dedicated to Tsar Alexander I: No. 6 lyrical and relaxed, while No. 7 is the most dramatic and symphonic of the three, it's tempestuous outer movements framing a serene slow movement.