It is remarkable enough that pianist
Martha Argerich
remains active in her ninth decade. Even better, in this performance recorded live at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in April of 2022, she is, in many passages, in the driver's seat and setting the tempo and mood. She and violinist
Renaud Capucon
have frequently performed together; they make an ideal chamber music pairing in which one player knows when to back off as the other takes center stage. Here, the interpretations are often
Argerich
's, and the unsettled moods and shifting rhythms of both the
Beethoven
Violin Sonata No. 9 in A minor, Op. 47 ("Kreutzer")
, and the
Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105
, of
Schumann
, are part of her stock-in-trade. The results are consistently absorbing, and the
, in particular, must be one of the finest recordings available for this rather rarely heard work. In the
Franck
Violin Sonata in A major
, the results are less distinctive but still hugely pleasing in the Wagnerian slow movement and the famous ultra-sentimental finale. With decent live sound from
Deutsche Grammophon
, this is a must for
fans and a strong chamber music entry for 2022 in general. ~ James Manheim