Isabelle Faust, Jiří Bělohlávek, Alexander Melnikov - Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Kreutzer Sonata (2007)

In this 2006 Beethoven program, Isabelle Faust's tone is subtle and strong, her intonation true, her technique flawless, and her interpretations so sweetly lyrical that the young German violinist sounds like the true heir of the late Belgian violinist Arthur Grumiaux. Partnered with conductor Jirí Belohlávek and the Prague Philharmonia in the concerto and with pianist Alexander Melnikov in the sonata, Faust creates a concerto that is Grecian in its poetic purity and Roman in its pastoral loveliness and a sonata that is Dionysic in its ecstatic outer Prestos and Apollonian in its central Andante. Captured in rich but clear sound by artistic director Martin Sauer in the warm acoustics of the Rudolfinum in Prague, these recordings deserve as wide an audience as possible. It should also be noted that Faust plays none of the usual cadenzas in the concerto, but rather, newly written cadenzas by Russian composer Katia Tchemberdji that are slyly entertaining and surprisingly lovely.