Janáček - Brahms - Bartók

Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and pianist Fazil Say are two of the most combustible talents in classical music, and their take on Janáček’s Violin Sonata bristles with sharply pointed detail and acute insights. The Allegretto has a manic, scampering energy, while the eloquence of Say’s playing in the Adagio finale is punctuated by Kopatchinskaja’s stuttering interjections. Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 3 is more mainstream territory, but some of Janáček’s haunted quality seeps into the opening movement, particularly in Kopatchinskaja’s brooding investigation of Brahms’s violin writing. The intense account of the enigmatic Adagio in Bartók’s Violin Sonata No. 1 typifies the special rapport Kopatchinskaja and Say bring to this constantly stimulating recital.