Radio 3 Record Review
28th January 2023
Record of the Week

Gramophone Magazine
February 2023
Editor's Choice

Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Fazıl Say (piano)

Janáček: Violin Sonata
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
Bartók: Violin Sonata No. 1, BB 84, Sz. 75

This new recording marks the reformation of the legendary duo of Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Fazil Say. The Moldovan violinist says the Turkish pianist ‘is a volcano, with an indomitable strength and energy’, while he emphasises the ‘freedom’ that her ‘spontaneous playing’ exudes: ‘At each concert, she creates a different character and tells a new story.’ The explosive duo presents a programme devoted to Bartók’s Violin Sonata no.1 (‘a marvel from start to finish, one of his finest works’, says Patkop), Brahms’s D minor Sonata (‘I imagine a feather in flight at the opening of the sonata’) and Janáček’s Sonata, ‘an extreme work, wounded and heart-rending’.

"Every phrase [of the Bartók] is sharply characterised – as well as powerfully gestural – and their playing is as volatile as the music itself." - Gramophone Magazine, February 2023.