New CD Release from American Record Guide
"Mendelssohn’s violin sonatas are unjustly neglected: only the first movement of an unfinished sonata is from his 16th year, the same year as his miraculous Octet. Two sonatas are juvenilia, written age 11 and 15, and the last from 1838 he left unpublished. So we have no complete violin works from Mendelssohn’s prime years. It’s a mystery that Mendelssohn hid the mature Sonata 3 in F, as it’s ebullient and stirring, cut from the same expressive cloth as his Italian Symphony.
Here Ms Adkins and Mr Magalhães are ardent and spontaneous, ecstatic, like mature Schumann—but Schumann had yet to publish any chamber music by 1838. The juvenile Sonata 2 in F minor would be the pride of any seasoned composer—it is masterly, dark, and profound, like the best early Beethoven, especially at the exceedingly moderato tempo in I; these players take 10-1/2 minutes where most take about 8. It’s a risky choice, and teases more adolescent angst out of a movement that can sound like a petulant snit fit at faster tempos. The soulful Beethovenian II is soothing, the grumpy Mozartean finale agitated and sec, where the fierce coordination of these musicians is breathtaking. The unfinished D minor Sonata comes next, fiery and brooding. It’s too bad Mendelssohn didn’t finish it.
His first childhood sonata comes last and owes much to Beethoven’s early violin sonatas. It’s playful and not at all profound. The performers toss off its considerable technical demands with ease. I thought the performers sounded distant at first, but grew to enjoy the realistic concert perspective and blend. Ms Adkins has a lovely and intense tone, very passionate. This is a desirable release in every way, and I have a hard time imagining the music done better."
