United Kingdom Beethoven: Alina Ibragimova (violin), Cédric Tiberghien (fortepiano), Wigmore Corridor, London, 19.11.2025. (CSa)
Beethoven – Violin Sonata No.4 in A minor, Op.23; Violin Sonata No.6 in A, Op.30 No.1; Violin Sonata No.7 in C minor, Op.30 No.2
Russian-born violinist Alina Ibragimova and French pianist Cédric Tiberghien, each distinguished solo instrumentalists, first met in London in 2005 after they have been each a part of the BBC Radio 3 New Technology Artists Scheme. They instantly found a standard musical sensibility and a shared creative compatibility which over the past 20 years has blossomed right into a exceptional collaboration, notably of their exploration of Beethoven’s sonatas.
They returned to the Wigmore Corridor to recreate Beethoven’s soundworld in an traditionally knowledgeable but vibrantly recent and emotionally spontaneous recital of three of his ‘center interval’ sonatas: No.4 in A minor, Op.23, No.6 in A, Op.30 No.1, and No.7 in C minor, Op.30 No 2. Though composed in a relatively quick time span (1800-1802) they embody the appreciable breadth of Beethoven’s musical growth over this era.
We all know from up to date documentation that these sonatas have been premiered privately in a grand musical family of certainly one of his patrons. They have been invariably carried out by the jovial, stout, Ignaz Schuppanzigh, Beethoven ‘s favorite violinist, pal and sparring associate, with the composer himself on the keyboard. We additionally study from anecdotal stories that their relationship was considerably fraught. When Schuppanzigh complained to Beethoven concerning the complexities he encountered when enjoying sure passages within the grasp’s music, the irascible Beethoven responded, ‘Do you imagine that I take into consideration your depressing fiddle when the muse strikes me?’ and chided him for his ‘fats fingers’. What we can not know for sure in fact, is exactly how the efficiency sounded. However it’s not wildly speculative to recommend that this recital would have struck a nineteenth-century Viennese viewers as totally genuine.
Ibragimova, on this event swathed in a black velvet gown, achieved her characteristically wealthy and cleanly rounded tone on a 1775 Anselmo Bellosio with a classical bow, whereas Tiberghien, resplendent in a salmon pink three-piece swimsuit, eschewed the Wigmore Corridor’s trendy live performance grand in favour of a copy of an authentic 1805 Walter & Sohn fortepiano. Regrettably there was no point out of this within the one sheet programme observe, however analysis has revealed that this elegant duplicate was handcrafted by Paul McNulty in his workshop in rural Czechoslovakia. Encased in glowing walnut and much smaller than up to date pianos, it contains a spruce wooden soundboard sourced from the close by Šumava Forest, a shorter keyboard, fewer octaves, and knee levers moderately than foot pedals to average or maintain sound. These units are hid on the underside of the instrument and require gamers to make use of their knees to press up, moderately than their ft to press down. Tiberghien achieved this advanced mechanical manoeuvre nearly imperceptibly sustaining his posture all through. The consequence was magical – a sparklingly clear tone, delicate in color, frivolously and incisively articulated. It proved the proper foil to Ibragimova’s violin and helped to keep up a real partnership which neither instrument dominated.
The recital started or moderately exploded with a tightly coordinated account of the Sonata in A minor, Op.23. The darkish, turbulent Presto nearly grabbed the listener by the throat, whereas the playful Andante scherzoso consisted of a teasingly intricate musical dialog – some passages performed so softly that one might solely marvel on the gamers’ precision and management. It was not lengthy although, earlier than stormy depth returned within the stressed and thrillingly executed finale.
The selection of Sonata No.6 in A, described by musicologist Richard Wigmore as ‘certainly one of Beethoven’s best-kept secrets and techniques’, got here as a pleasant shock. Pastoral in in temper and luminous in texture, Ibragimova’s ripe, full-blooded account complimented Tiberghien’s refined fingerwork to present a gently lyrical and fantastically blended rendition of the primary motion Allegro, and a serene Adagio during which exactly aligned moments of silence spoke as eloquently because the music itself.
The second a part of the programme featured one work: Beethoven’s volcanic Sonata No.7 in C minor, which has been described as a symphony for 2 devices in 4 actions. It was written in 1802, the yr of the Heiligenstadt Testomony, a despairing letter written by Beethoven to his brothers Carl and Johann about his encroaching deafness. The sonata supplied one more alternative for Ibragimova and Tiberghien to display how splendidly matched they’re, and to show their whole command of tonal color, rhythmic acuity and finesse. The opening Allegro con brio was ominously darkish and threatening, constructing to a tidal wave of Romantic melody which broke by way of the partitions of eighteenth-century classicism. The Adagio cantabile was lustrous and full-bodied, and the ebullient Finale, an exhilarating curler coaster of a musical journey, introduced the formal a part of the night to an finish. In an sudden second of light closure, we have been handled to the second motion Adagio from Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No.3 in E-flat, Op.12 No.3. Right here, the violin’s soulful cantabile performed softly over the fortepiano’s rippling undercurrent. Like every part else on this joyous and restorative programme, it was completely judged.
Chris Sallon
Featured Picture: Violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Cédric Tiberghien
