# Favorite Beethoven Kruetzer Sonata Recommendation



## Triplets

At the moment I don't have a recording of this great work that breathes fire and passion. Oistrakh is to refined, Heifetz too unequally recorded (was the Pianist in the same studio?), and Josef Suk with Jan Panenka suffers from the same problem that Itzhak Perlman has with Ashkhenazy, namely that the Violinist has a slight hiccup after the opening statement just as things ought to get rolling. Any recommendations? I want blood and guts here, no Mozartian elegance


----------



## wkasimer

Here you go:

https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Violin-Sonatas-Fortepiano-Kreutzer/dp/B000PCXIQ6









They play like their hair is on fire.


----------



## KenOC

Patricia Kopatchinskaja & Fazıl Say play like their whole heads are on fire! This extraordinary live performance was posted by Fazil Say. They also have an excellent CD of this.


----------



## DavidA

Argerich with Perlman or Kremer

Heifetz with Mosiewitch


----------



## KenOC

The Kreutzer was a shocker when it was published. Here's an except from an 1805 review when it was brand new, probably written from the sheet music.

"I find it impossible to characterize the inner essence of this sonata in words. He who can satisfactorily do so is _mihi magnus Apollo_. With the respect owing to this composer and to this work, I tried to clarify my train of thought in an outline and wrote almost a whole sheet about just the first Presto. However, I will not plague the readers of the AMZ with it. I shall confine myself to a general announcement and statement: When two virtuosos for whom nothing is difficult enough; who have sufficient intelligence and skills; and who in spite of the spirit that this work is imbued with and in spite of the most peculiar eccentricities contained therein are not perturbed by any of it-when two such virtuosos find each other and study the work (for they would have to do that); when they wait for the hour in which they can enjoy the most grotesque (provided that it has been produced with intelligence); and when they play it in this hour-then they will gain full pleasure from it."


----------



## chesapeake bay

This is an excellent rendition https://www.amazon.com/Kreutzer-Sonata-Beethoven-Violin-Sonatas/dp/B003UM01C2/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1504039600&sr=8-7&keywords=victoria+mullova+beethoven played on period instruments, which isn't something I look for with Beethoven but Mullova and Bezuidenhout really do the piece justice with them I think.


----------



## Triplets

KenOC said:


> Patricia Kopatchinskaja & Fazıl Say play like their whole heads are on fire! This extraordinary live performance was posted by Fazil Say. They also have an excellent CD of this.


Very impressive. The violinist misses a few notes in the beginning; presumably the CD is a bit more controlled?


----------



## Dan Ante

Menuhin & Kempff is my favourite coupled with the "Spring" son.


----------



## hpowders

Jascha Heifetz with Brooks Smith at the piano.


----------



## KenOC

Triplets said:


> Very impressive. The violinist misses a few notes in the beginning; presumably the CD is a bit more controlled?


The CD is definitely not controlled. I believe you said you wanted to take no prisoners! :lol:


----------



## Triplets

hpowders said:


> Jascha Heifetz with Brooks Smith at the piano.


That's the one where Smith was told by you know who not to play to loud


----------



## Triplets

KenOC said:


> The CD is definitely not controlled. I believe you said you wanted to take no prisoners! :lol:


I did at that. That attack right after the slow introduction must be pretty hard for the fiddle players. Kopatchinskaja slurs the notes, and Suk and Perlman slowly pace the chords, which breaks the building momentum. So Heifetz, who dishes it off without breaking a sweat, might be the go to.


----------



## hpowders

Triplets said:


> That's the one where Smith was told by you know who not to play to loud


Heifetz was always recorded too far forward.


----------



## KenOC

Triplets said:


> So Heifetz, who dishes it off without breaking a sweat, might be the go to.


I suspect that somebody who plays the Kreutzer without breaking a sweat is playing it wrong. :lol:


----------



## Pugg

Itzhak Perlman (violin) & Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Decca/4757509

Itzhak Perlman (violin), Martha Argerich (piano)

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Warner+Classics/2564612963

Any day of the week.


----------



## Merl

Anyone mentioned this one? If not, why? I think it's a cracker!


----------



## Holden4th

In the hair raising category Heifetz, paired with Brooks Smith is pretty darned good and without the mistakes.


----------



## DavidA

Holden4th said:


> In the hair raising category Heifetz, paired with Brooks Smith is pretty darned good and without the mistakes.


The problem is that Heifetz is so closely balanced poor old Smith doesn't get a look in. Great fiddle playing though


----------



## Mandryka

Triplets said:


> I want blood and guts here, no Mozartian elegance


Do NOT listen to Gitlis/Argerich.

It makes that thing with whoever and Fazil Say sound like a pair of ***** cats, both hoooooooorrrrrrrible immature performances IMO, this Gitlis/Argerich is the worst performance of any violin sonata I've ever heard.






I used to think the music was the problem but then I found some elegant and classical noble performances.


----------



## fluteman

For me, there needs to be both fire and brimstone and restrained elegance. The huge contrasts are one of the main sources of the excitement. Zino Francescatti and Robert Casadesus are very good, as are Henryk Szeryng and Artur Rubinstein.


----------



## classfolkphile

fluteman said:


> For me, there needs to be both fire and brimstone and restrained elegance. The huge contrasts are one of the main sources of the excitement. Zino Francescatti and Robert Casadesus are very good, as are Henryk Szeryng and Artur Rubinstein.


I agree with this and these recommendations.


----------



## stejo

Merl said:


> Anyone mentioned this one? If not, why? I think it's a cracker!


Agree! They are stunning!


----------



## sbmonty

I love both.


----------



## ToneDeaf&Senile

*Beethoven: Kruetzer - final movement*
Ian Watson - fortepiano
Susanna Ogata - violin

On first hearing I liked this performance so well I listened to it repeatedly at YouTube, then ordered the CD off Amazon. I'd deem it as leaning toward the "blood and guts" OP asks for. Too, the excellent sounding (forte)piano is given its due rather than being confined to an accompanying role.


----------



## Triplets

Hi, TDS. Love your TC handle. I wound up purchasing the Argerich/Kremer as a download. It's pretty satisfying, but with their formidable reputations, I guess I was expecting something apocalyptic, and it doesn't quite get there. I'll try your recommendation


----------



## AfterHours

The aforementioned Faust/Melnikov (Harmonia Mundi) rendition may fit best with your request, though I feel the following is the greatest rendition of the Kreutzer ever recorded:

*Augustin Dumay - Maria-Joao Pires (2002) 
*


----------



## Josquin13

I don't think this sonata works very well with poor sound quality (even the lesser recordings of the digital era), especially if its an exceptional performance & the violinist's tone is poorly caught. But if you're open to hearing an older performance that gets to the heart of the music, Adolf Busch and Rudolf Serkin are worth hearing:






Bronislav Hubermann & Ignaz Friedman are highly regarded too, though I tend to prefer Busch & Serkin myself:






You should also try Joseph Szigeti and Bela Bartok's live recording---which may be exactly what you're looking for in a Kreutzer performance:






(There's also Fritz Kreisler's recording--with Franz Rupp.)

Yehudi Menuhin and Wilhelm Kempff are very good in the Kreutzer too, if you don't mind that Menuhin's bow arm shakes a bit, and his intonation can go a little off occasionally. For me, it's an easy trade to make to hear such exceptional music making. I also like David Oistrakh and Lev Oborin myself, but yes, they may be better in the Spring Sonata, & others. Perlman & Ashkenazy too. Unfortunately, Josef Suk's violin tone isn't flatteringly recorded by Supraphon (with Panenka). Nor is Arthur Grumiaux's tone all that well remastered on CD either (with Haskil), a pity--though Pentatone has done a much better job remastering Grumiaux's tone on his Beethoven recordings with Arrau (but no Kreutzer).

During the digital era, I've liked a lot more Kreutzer recordings than I've loved. However, Uto Ughi and Wolfgang Sawallisch are very fine in this sonata. Unfortunately, it's only available (remastered) in the Ughi box set, unless you can find the old RCA issue. I don't recall that Oleg Kagan ever recorded the Kreutzer, but he's brilliant in several other Beethoven Violin Sonatas with pianist Vassily Lobanov (on Live Classics), and Sviatoslav Richter (though I didn't overly care for their brisk opening movement to the Spring Sonata). Also, maybe Salvatore Accardo?

All these are good--Cory Cerovsek, Gidon Kremer, Renaud Capuçon, Pierre Fouchenneret, Isabelle van Keulen, and Augustin Dumay (though I tend to prefer Pires piano playing to Dumay's violin playing).

I've yet to get to Viktoria Mullova's period recording with Kristian Bezuidenhout, but have heard very good things about it:









https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Vi...=1513460782&sr=1-2&keywords=mullova+beethoven

Nor have I heard Vadim Repin or Maxim Vengerov's Kreutzer recordings, but both received good reviews, as I recall.

My two cents.


----------



## arnerich

I love the Isaac Stern recording of the Kreutzer Sonata.


----------



## Josquin13

One more Kreutzer to add to my broad survey above--a recent recording from violinist Lorenzo Gatto and pianist Julien Libeer, on the Alpha label, which can be sampled on the Outhere website:

https://www.outhere-music.com/en/albums/violin-sonatas-nos-9-kreutzer-4-2-alpha-240


----------



## PeterF

These three are the ones I like very much.
Francescatti / Casadesus
Menuhin / Kempff
Stern / Istomin


----------



## Star

Argerich / Perlmann?


----------



## Josquin13

For historic recordings, this set offers performances by a range of legendary violinists:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008V6V...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1514222250&sr=1-1


----------



## Triplets

Josquin13 said:


> For historic recordings, this set offers performances by a range of legendary violinists:
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008V6V...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1514222250&sr=1-1


Fascinating! Thank you


----------



## philoctetes

One of my first loves in classical music, along with the Archduke, both with Kempff are still my faves, especially how he swings with Menuhin in the Kreutzer variations.

Oistrakh and Heifetz typically at opposite poles, both too far from a happy mean. Perlmann and Ashkenazy very good but their collective masculine approach has gradually lost its charm for me. OTOH Perlmann leaves Martha swinging on her own rubato in the first movement, she simply can't keep up, and fares better with Kremer. Kopat & Say are thrilling, breathless, and gypsy crazed and that works if the mood fits. 

The Hubermann with Friedman was recently reissued and possibly beats them all.


----------



## eternum1968

Leonidas Kavakos and Enrico Pace


----------



## Vittorio

Szeryng / Haebler


----------



## KenOC

Did I already respond to this thread? For maximum body count, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Fazil Say. As Philoctetes says, "crazed." I think that fits the music nicely.


----------



## BiscuityBoyle

Gilels sounds every bit the consummate Beethoven player that he was here and Kogan is at his demonic best, only I wouldn't say the Soviet recording does his violin tone any favors.


----------

