Violin Sonata in F major, MWV Q7 (Mendelssohn) - from CDA68322 - Hyperion Records

Reviews

‘If anyone can lift [Mendelssohn's] violin sonatas from being viewed as charming but of niche interest then it’s Alina Ibragimova (one of today’s leading exponents of the E minor Concerto), all the more so when it’s hand in glove with the pianist with whom she’s produced such covetable sets of Mozart and Beethoven sonatas, to name the composers who perhaps are these sonatas’ closest musical relatives. Happily, therefore, the results are every bit as good as one would hope. For starters, how wonderful to hear such natural, unfussy lyricism in the solo violin opening to the F minor Sonata, Op 4, of 1823, in place of the rubato and sometimes portamento-heavy, cadenza-like drama so many other violinists can’t resist … and I can’t not mention the merry, fairy-dusted virtuosity with which they flutter out the Midsummer Night’s Dream-esque finales of both F major sonatas. In a word, delicious’ (Gramophone)

‘Clean playing from both performers, with light pedalling from Cédric Tiberghien, deals honestly with the two early sonatas and their engaging mixture of Classical and Romantic materials … the 1838 Sonata, in which Tiberghien understandably allows himself more generous pedalling, shows Mendelssohn on top form’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Such a powerful partnership, this—full of ideas and energy and musical inspiration, and it's an excellent, intimate recording as well: the hushed opening of the D major sonata fragment at the end is magical’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien start with the first version of his F major Sonata of 1838, giving it a good heroic opening with plenty of flair, which subsides into gentle caressing of the second subject. These contrasts of dynamism and repose, strength and delicacy, recur throughout the movement, giving shape and ever-shifting colour. The same can be said of the Adagio, in which the restrained grace of the opening melody opens into grand rhetorical gesture, with Ibragimova giving a keen dramatic edge to Mendelssohn’s more flamboyant passages … the recording is close and well balanced’ (The Strad)» More

‘This Hyperion delivers on every level in a recording of compelling vitality and, to my ears at least, flawless musicianship’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘A beautiful piece [MWV Q26], much in the same spirited vein as the slightly later Cello Sonatas. Ibragimova and Tiberghien offer an incisive, articulative account of its big first movement, one that never lacks for momentum or color. The exchanges of foreground and background roles in the central Adagio flow beautifully while the concluding Assai vivace is brilliantly felt, its episodes of tension and release unfolding with utter naturalness. Rounding out the album is a fragment of a Violin Sonata in D that the composer left incomplete sometime in the late 1820s. It’s a tantalizing sketch, with a warm-hearted Adagio introduction followed up by a stormy fast section, but not much more—though Ibragimova and Tiberghien get its closing bars to shimmer’ (The Arts Fuse, USA)

‘After Mendelssohn set down the Sonata in F major [MWV Q26] in draft form, he got as far as revising the first movement before moving on to other things. Superb duo partners Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien have opted for the original first movement. Once you listen, you'll understand why. The triumphant opening is so lively and joy-filled as to make one question how it could ever be bettered. The lovely second movement impresses as a tender love song from a sensitive and longing soul. It's so wonderful and filled with beauty that anyone who chose to exit this lifetime while this was playing might conceivably die with a smile on their face. The sonata closes with a joyous cat-and-mouse romp. As a celebration of the goodness life has to offer, this marvelous sonata deserves a place alongside Beethoven's Archduke Trio and the finest works of Mozart’ (Stereophile)

PERFORMANCE

RECORDING

«Tout le Mendelssohn solaire est enclos en ces pages comme dans le piano vif-argent de Cédric Tiberghien et l’archet passionné d’Alina Ibragimova. Quel duo ! Après leur impressionnant parcours Mozart, complétissime !, pour le même éditeur, voici qu’ils explorent chaque note que Mendelssohn aura écrite pour leurs deux instruments ensemble … album parfait, qui vient régler la question de la discographie» (Artamag, France)» More

„[Alina Ibragimova und Cèdric Tiberghien] beweisen, dass Mendelssohn nichts mit vermeintlich romantischer Gefühligkeit zu tun hat. Ibragimovas lichter, dabei intensiver Geigenton und Tiberghiens unverzärtelter Zugriff machen die drei Sonaten und einen grandiosen Fragmentsatz zur aufregenden Begegnung mit Mendelssohns klassizistischem Genius“ (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)

Among the works for violin and piano that Mendelssohn left in manuscript is an early sonata in F major from 1820 (MWV Q7). Its three movements betray the conservative, eighteenth-century tastes of Carl Friedrich Zelter, who began instructing his prize pupil in thoroughbass and counterpoint late in 1819. Thus, the monothematic first movement contains quirky progressions and interruptions reminiscent of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, from whom Mendelssohn’s great-aunt Sara Levy had commissioned compositions during the 1780s. The second movement, in the parallel minor, presents a theme with four variations that alternate between the minor and major modes, while the spirited finale, also monothematic, is modelled on the principal theme of the rondo finale of Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No 102, composed for London in 1794. In turn, Mendelssohn’s youthful finale anticipates the third movement of MWV Q26, also in F major.

Parmi les œuvres pour violon et piano que Mendelssohn laissa sous forme manuscrite figure une sonate de jeunesse en fa majeur de 1820 (MWV Q7). Ses trois mouvements trahissent les goûts classiques, du XVIIIe siècle, de Carl Friedrich Zelter, qui commença à enseigner à son élève hors pair la basse continue et le contrepoint à la fin de l’année 1819. Ainsi, le premier mouvement monothématique contient des progressions et interruptions originales qui font penser à Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, à qui la grand-tante de Mendelssohn, Sara Levy, avait commandé des compositions au cours des années 1780. Le deuxième mouvement, au parallèle mineur, présente un thème avec quatre variations qui alternent entre les modes mineur et majeur, alors que le finale plein d’entrain, également monothématique, est modelé sur le thème principal du rondo final de la Symphonie nº 102 de Joseph Haydn, composée pour Londres en 1794. À son tour, le finale de la sonate de jeunesse de Mendelssohn préfigure le troisième mouvement de la sonate MWV Q26, également en fa majeur.

Zu den Werken für Violine und Klavier, die Mendelssohn als Manuskripte hinterließ, gehört eine frühe Sonate in F-Dur aus dem Jahr 1820 (MWV Q7). Ihre drei Sätze verraten den konservativen Geschmack des 18. Jahrhunderts von Carl Friedrich Zelter, der gegen Ende des Jahres 1819 damit begann, seinem besten Schüler Generalbass- und Kontrapunkt-Unterricht zu erteilen. So enthält der monothematische erste Satz eigenwillige Fortschreitungen und Unterbrechungen, die an Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach erinnern, bei dem Mendelssohns Großtante Sara Levy in den 1780er Jahren mehrere Werke in Auftrag gegeben hatte. Der zweite Satz steht in der Mollvariante und präsentiert ein Thema mit vier Variationen, die zwischen Moll und Dur hin und her wechseln, während das temperamentvolle Finale, ebenfalls monothematisch, dem Hauptthema des Rondo-Finales von Joseph Haydns Symphonie Nr. 102 nachempfunden ist, die 1794 für eine der London-Reisen des Komponisten entstanden war. Mendelssohns jugendliches Finale wiederum antizipiert den dritten Satz von MWV Q26, der auch in F-Dur steht.

Recording details: January 2021
St Silas the Martyr, Kentish Town, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Oscar Torres
Release date: March 2022
Total duration: 14 minutes 23 seconds

Cover artwork: At the mirror (1827) by Georg Friedrich Kersting (1785-1847)
AKG London

Violin Sonata in F major, MWV Q7

Alina Ibragimova (violin), Cédric Tiberghien (piano)

Reviews

Introduction