First Ladies: Three Romantic Violin Sonatas
One could hardly intuit from these fresh and flowing violin sonatas the obstacles their female composers had to face – family opposition for Mel Bonis in France and Ethel Smyth in England, institutional conservatism for Elfrida Andrée in Sweden. It has taken a century and more for that initial prejudice to fall away, and they are now beginning to attract a fair hearing for their music. What ultimately matters, of course, is not whether composers are male or female but whether they write good music, and these three sonatas – melodically expansive, rhythmically vivacious, harmonically warm – point to the musical riches that further exploration of their creators’ output will uncover.
Annette-Barbara Vogel, violin
Durval Cesetti, piano
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ELFRIDA ANDRÉE (1841–1929)
- I Allegro con spirito
- II Andante cantabile
- III Finale. Allegro moderato e risoluto
- I Moderato
- II Presto
- III Lento (Thème populaire grec recueilli par Bourgault-Ducoudray)
- IV Final. Con moto
- I Allegro moderato
- II Scherzo. Allegro grazioso
- III Romanze. Andante grazioso
- IV Finale. Allegro vivace
Violin Sonata in B flat major (1872)*
MEL BONIS (1858–1937)
Violin Sonata in F sharp minor, Op. 112 (1922)
ETHEL SMYTH (1858–1944)
Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 7 (1887)
* FIRST RECORDINGS
Stringendo :
‘[Ethyl Smyth’s sonata] is a dark work, written at a time of great personal emotional upheaval, and Vogel, with Durval Cesetti as her sensitive associate artist, bring a brooding passion to it. A most enjoyable recording of neglected sonatas that hopefully promotes their transition into mainstream repertoire.’
—Susan Pierotti, Stringendo
Fanfare :
‘All three of these composers lived well into the 20th century, yet these sonatas exude a thoroughly Romantic glow. All three women had to overcome considerable difficulties in getting their music out into the world, and it is good to be able to hear their violin sonatas at long last in such lustrous performances. The renditions of Annette-Barbara Vogel and Durval Cesetti are crystal-clear, and perfectly recorded too.’
—Fanfare
Stretto :
‘Niet te missen! […]
Maar wees gerust, deze 3 melodisch expansieve, ritmisch levendige en harmonisch warme sonates, wijzen op de muzikale rijkdom die verdere verkenning van hun oeuvre zal opleveren.’
English translation:
‘Not to be missed! […]
But rest assured, these three melodically expansive, rhythmically vibrant, and harmonically warm sonatas point to the musical richness that further exploration of their oeuvre will yield.’
—Michel Dutrieue, Stretto