Brahms: The Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Curtis Macomber, violin; Derek Han, piano
Bridge Records 9258 (www.bridgerecords.com)
I’ve long admired Curtis Macomber’s performances and recordings of 20th/21st century music, but had heard relatively little of his efforts in 19th century repertoire.
The violinist’s latest Bridge CD comes as a pleasant surprise. Joined by pianist Derek Han – another artist I haven’t heard playing Brahms before – Macomber records all three sonatas, and does a bang-up job!
Perhaps his experiences with contemporary music shed a different light on these warhorses of the late Romantic era. Macomber and Han favor a lithe, tautly drawn approach that strips the music of some of the lushness to which many listeners are accustomed; but it adds significant rhythmic vitality and formal coherence – a trade-off that provides ample compensation. Particularly thrilling are the fast movements; despite an ambitiously fleet tempo, the Vivace from the Sonata in A Major is as sure-footed and dramatically satisfying as I’ve heard it. The Presto Agitato from the D Minor sonata is stirringly tempestuous.
The brisk first movement of the Sonata in G Major negotiates a delicate balance: weighty in conception and airy in execution. Han displays tender phrasing and resonant tone in the G Major’s second movement; the two performers are eloquently in sync in the work’s finale. Macomber’s Brahms serves as a reminder of how dangerous pigeon-holing can be; it would be terrible to be deprived by faulty preconceptions of this violinist’s interpretations of music from any century.
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