Save 30% on Beethoven: The Complete Violin Sonatas [Triple Album] and Beethoven: Violin Sonata no. 9, ‘Kreutzer’ [Visual Video Album] with the Audio & Video Bundle.

The Kreutzer Sonata is one of Beethoven’s most iconic works, full of fire, beauty, audacity – and just a touch of humor where you’d least expect it. This complete ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata (40 minutes) is filmed during the recording sessions and available as FullHD video. Unlike usual, the audio was completely leading for the entire video editing. This required a special approach by video director Onno van Ameijde. Knowing that possibly every take could be used in the final editing, the camera operators were actually only allowed to shoot perfect images. Their effort and concentration are therefore continuously equal to that of the musicians. The result is a spectacular experience of a live video session in which all the expression of the musicians in sound and image come together at the cutting edge.

The Boundary-Challenging new recording of Beethoven’s Complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin features the acclaimed duo: violinist Shunske Sato and pianist Shuann Chai. Beethoven’s pieces occupied a special place in their repertoire for a long time – in fact the Kreutzer Sonata was the very first piece they played together. Apart from playing Beethoven, both of them spent an inordinate amount of time delving into historical sources and old recordings.

We soak up what we can – reading anecdotes, newspapers articles, letters from people who heard Beethoven. And then… we let go and make it our own.
– Shunske Sato

‘Copying’ Beethoven is never the goal. Anyway, from what we know about his edgy and near-scandalous performances, I get the feeling that nothing we do now would be far enough! In a live performance we rarely plan what to do specifically; we agree on some general things. Our recording, then, is a version of what we might do, not the version. Beethoven had so much to say, and left us with so many possibilities. His scores are like treasure maps – there’s something wonderful everywhere you look, and it’s our responsibility to dig around and show what we’ve found! And everyone who searches will find something different, so I think it is important to own one’s interpretation.
– Shuann Chai

Shunske Sato, Violin
Shuann Chai, Piano