Violin Sonatas

Friedrich Kuhlau (1786‐1832) was born in Hannover, but as a student he
went to Denmark, where he stayed the rest of his life, becoming an
important national composer.

Kuhlau was a near contemporary of Beethoven, and his style shares
elements of that genius (alas not the genius…): rooted in the 17th century
classicism it foreshadows the Romantic movement in a true expression of
affect, daring dissonances and sudden harmonic changes, and a general
expression of romantic moods as favoured in the fashionable salons.

Kuhlau is nowadays best known for his Sonatinas for amateur pianists,
serving as a welcome alternative to the more classical sonatinas by
Clementi.

This new recording present Kuhlau's Violin Sonatas Op. 79, music of
considerable drama, brilliance and virtuosity, but also of gentle lyricism
and charm.

As interludes to these sonatas the piano duo Porto‐Frontini plays two
works for piano 4‐hands, an Allegro Pathétique and an Adagio & Rondo.

Played by Giorgio Leonida Tosi on a baroque violin, pianist Paolo Porto
plays an 1830 Viennese Stein piano.