Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov

Isabelle Faust reunites with Alexander Melnikov, her duo partner of two decades’ standing, in a poetic programme of sonatas by Schumann and Brahms.

Impetuous, dramatic, mercurial - listeners have reached for many an adjective to describe Schumann’s two violin sonatas. Faust and Melnikov have spent many years exploring, performing and recording these fascinating works together, their approach combining the highest standards of historically-informed performance with compelling empathy and creative freedom.

They’ve paired them with Schumann’s Fantasiestücke (originally composed for piano and clarinet, but often performed, with the composer’s blessing, by piano and cello or violin), running the gamut from tenderness to elation in three short pieces, and Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 1. Brahms may quote from his own Regenlied (Rain Song), but his music is full of lyrical sunshine.

Programme

Robert Schumann Sonata No 1 in A minor, Op 105 for violin and piano
Johannes Brahms Sonata No 1 in F minor for clarinet (or viola) and piano, Op 120, arr. For violin and piano
Robert Schumann Fantasiestücke Op 73 for violin and piano
Robert Schumann Sonata in D minor, Op 121 for violin and piano

Performers

Isabelle Faust violin
Alexander Melnikov piano