Brahms / Agostini / Han - Sonatas for Violin & Piano [CD]

This is a truly first-rate recording of the three Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano. This album has the added bonus of the Scherzo in C minor from the Brahms F-A-E Sonata for Violin & Piano, WoO2. Federico Agostini is a violinist renowned as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He has appeared in various international music festivals in Europe, the United States, and Japan and has performed chamber music with many distinguished artists, including Bruno Giuranna, Jaime Laredo, Joseph Silverstein, and Janos Starker as well as with members of the American, Emerson, Fine Arts, Tokyo, and Guarneri quartets. Derek Han is without a doubt among the leading American pianists of his generation. Though he was originally identified with the concertos of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven he possesses a vast repertory that includes the concertos of Mendelssohn, Chopin, and MacDowell, as well as individual concertos by Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich, in addition to a large body of solo and chamber works. Han's style is original though fairly straightforward in it's lucid tones, spirited character, and technical fluidity and accuracy.