CD Review
Brahms: The Violin Sonatas, Christian Tetzlaff, violin
- Composer
- Brahms
- Artist
- Christian Tetzlaff, violin; Lars Vogt, piano
- Label
- Ondine
- Catalogue
- ODE 1284-2
Award-winning violinist Christian Tetzlaff, together with pianist Lars Vogt, offers a programme of Violin Sonatas by Johannes Brahms, continuing a successful series of recordings of violin chamber works by the duo. Brahms’s Violin Sonatas are among the greatest masterpieces in nineteenth-century chamber music, written between 1878 and 1888 at the height of his creative powers; with these works Brahms brought the genre into a new dimension. Also included is the Scherzo movement from the “F-A-E” Sonata, which Brahms contributed to a composite sonata with Robert Schumann and Albert Dietrich in 1853.
What the critics said
The Guardian found “Tetzlaff’s distinctive, quicksilver playing, capable of extreme pianissimo,” suiting “the intensity and introspection in each” sonata, calling the performances “agile, airborne, refreshingly unpredictable and alive with exhilarating freedom.” Gramophone, naming the disc its Disc of the Month for September 2016, praised “a breathtaking balance of poise and daring,” noting that “Tetzlaff and Vogt take obvious pleasure in details without losing sight of the larger picture, whether it’s a phrase, a movement or an entire work,” and that the duo “sharply delineate the individual character of each sonata.”
About the performers
Christian Tetzlaff, the German violinist heard here, was born in Hamburg in 1966 and began playing both violin and piano at the age of six, making his concert debut at fourteen. He and pianist Lars Vogt were frequent, long-standing musical partners, their recording of Schumann’s violin sonatas was named Gramophone’s Recording of the Month, and together with Tetzlaff’s sister, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, the two formed a trio that received a Grammy nomination in 2016. Vogt died in 2022; this Ondine recording of the complete Brahms violin sonatas is part of the substantial body of chamber-music recordings the two musicians made together over the course of their partnership.
A note on this page
The original mmmusic page for this recording paired the label’s own recording summary with a curated selection of real press reviews rather than a single long-form staff review, that structure has been preserved here, with the same real, attributed quotes.
Questions about this recording
What's on the disc?
Brahms's three numbered Violin Sonatas, No. 1 in G major (Op. 78), No. 2 in A major (Op. 100) and No. 3 in D minor (Op. 108), written between 1878 and 1888, plus the Scherzo movement Brahms contributed to the composite "F-A-E" Sonata, written jointly with Robert Schumann and Albert Dietrich in 1853.
Had Tetzlaff and Vogt recorded together before this?
Yes, this release continues an established series of recordings of violin chamber works by the duo.
Did this recording receive any recognition?
Yes, it was Gramophone's Disc of the Month in September 2016.
Is this recording still available to buy?
Yes, Ondine's catalogue number ODE 1284-2 remains findable through classical retailers. We don't run an in-house shop, so we link out to Amazon and Discogs below.
Did Tetzlaff and Vogt make other recordings together?
Yes, their Schumann violin sonatas recording was also named Gramophone's Recording of the Month, and together with Tetzlaff's sister, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, the trio received a Grammy nomination in 2016.
