Corey Cerovsek & Paavali Jumppanen - Beethoven: The 10 Violin Sonatas (2007)

Together, Corey Cerovsek and Paavali Jumppanen have turned in one of the freshest, sweetest, and altogether most charming sets of Beethoven's violin sonatas in years. Though not imbued with the blazing virtuosity that Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich or the heightened expressivity that Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy brought to the works, Cerovsek and Jumppanen create performances of poise, depth, and refinement. Both are accomplished players with distinct talents. Cerovsek has a lean, supple tone with a tender but expressive vibrato, while Jumppanen has a deft touch, a smooth legato, and a keen sense of balance. Their performances here are outwardly objective, and because the sonatas are predominantly early and quintessentially lyrical works, their approach admirably suits the music. But there is more to Cerovsek and Jumppanen's playing, an intensity to their lines, a strength to their sonorities, a power to their rhythms, and above all a unity in their interpretations that makes their performances more than merely objective. -- James Leonard