Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Canino - Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonatas (2001) [HDTracks]

Brahms was a severe critic of his own work, often assailed with uncertainty and reluctant to publish works he considered immature or incomplete. With the exception of the Scherzo in C flat for the Sonata F.A.E. he made his first violin solo work known to the public at only the age of 45 with the publication of the Concerto in D major, op. 77. Cheered by the great success he had had in the summer of that year, 1878, he set to work composing the first of his three splendid violin sonatas. They are the only ones we know, as three previous similar sonatas were destroyed by the composer himself. Brahms wrote these three masterpieces during three happy and fruitful summer holidays which he spent away from the city, inspired by the mountain scenery. Sonatas op. 78, 100 and 108 are full of lyricism and a lied quality which rarely gives way to virtuosity (in particular the first two), although they clearly reveal Brahms' mastery in shaping thematic material, while at the same time creating a harmonious balance between the violin and the piano. The composer felt supremely confident with the piano and the instrument often takes the lead in melodic construction.