Brahms ‎– Violin-Sonate A-Dur / Scherzo F-A-E. César Franck – Violin-Sonate A-Dur. Carl Seemann, Wolfgang Schneiderhan

In my opinion, these interpretations are among the finest stereo accounts available. Wolfgang Schneiderhan has a somewhat thin, singing tone and a direct, aggressive approach. His partner, Carl Seeman, was a seasoned, sensitive collaborator and he conceives these works in the same light Schneiderhan does, aptly complementing him throughout. This is not by accident; these two also recorded a complete set of similarly excellent Beethoven sonatas for DG, so they were by this time quite comfortable with one another. These are fiery, steel-fisted readings – Schneiderhan really digs into the strings during the heavier moments – and I find that this approach works well, particularly in the big D Minor sonata. There’s a foreboding, relentless quality to these performances, one that keeps these structures moving forward with surprising and refreshing energy. Both performers execute with a blend of power and exactitude, paying due heed to to the works’ architecture but not at the expense of expressiveness. The results they achieve are spectacular.
I’ve heard several other versions of these works, including Suk/Katchen on Decca, Perlman/Ashkenazy on EMI and Barenboim/Zukerman on DG. I found the Perlman/Ashkenazy slightly over the top and over-emotive, albeit virtuosic; the Barenboim/Zukerman collaboration does not feature good chemistry, as the performers appear to have divergent views of the work. Finally, the Suk/Katchen is also actually very fine, and is my second favorite. It features somewhat broader tempi and a slightly more autumnal approach, in particular during the slow movements, which may work better in Sonatas 1 & 2. Suk’s tone is also fuller and notes are more completely articulated, and Katchen was a noted Brahmsian and a more than capable accompanist. However it lacks the propulsive momentum of the performances found here, and you don’t get the “FAE” Sonata movement that you get on this disc, a clever little composition made by a young Brahms. Let’s put it this way; if I was forced to choose only one recording of these works, it would be this one.
Recording quality is good. Close, a bit bright, slightly light on the low-end but very well-defined. This is good, vintage analog, well-remastered by DG for the Originals series. The liner notes are, like many releases in the Originals series, somewhat weak and more focused on the performers. However I’ll gladly deal with sub-par liner notes in exchange for such deserving performances being given a quality remastering treatment.
I should note that Brahms’ violin sonatas are some of the finest works in the genre, considered by many to be masterpieces of the highest quality. If your budget can handle it, I would recommend that you get both this disc and the Suk/Katchen as you won’t want to have just one recording of these splendid compositions.