The 'Spring' Sonata, though not given that name by Beethoven, is in F major, a key that evoked pastoral themes at the time, and its opening melody is described as irresistibly vernal.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded live at Wigmore Hall, London, on February 23, 2010.
Composer Biography
Beethoven composed nearly all of his violin sonatas at a comparatively young age, with the Violin Sonata No. 2 composed when he was twenty-seven and the 'Spring' Sonata when he was thirty-one.
Performer Biography
Cédric Tiberghien, the pianist, won the First Prize at the prestigious Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris in 1998, along with five special awards.
Performer Biography
Alina Ibragimova, the violinist, performs on a 1738 Pietro Guarneri of Venice violin, kindly provided by Georg von Opel.
Composition History
Beethoven's Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 96, was written for the violin virtuoso Pierre Rode, a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, during a period of personal and political disillusionment for the composer.
Critical Reception
Early critics of Beethoven's Op. 12 No. 2 Violin Sonata described it as showing 'a frowardness in which we can take little interest' and being 'learned, learned and always learned, with nothing natural, no song'.
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