The three violin sonatas of Johannes Brahms are performed by a pair of rising stars of the international scene.

In 1992, violinist Linus Roth won First Prize at the German “Young Musician” competition. Later, whilst studying at the Music Academies of Zurich and Munich, he received regular support from Anne-Sophie Mutter and her Foundation. In 2006 he received the Echo Klassik Award of the German Phonoacademy as “Best Newcomer” for his debut CD of sonatas by Brahms, Debussy, Ysaÿe and Mendelssohn, which was released on EMI Classics.

José Gallardo has won many national and international awards and has appeared at many international festivals, including the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, the Asiago Festival in Italy, the Schwetzingen Festival, and the Rheingau Music Festival. In 2009, Roth and Gallardo released a highly-praised account of Schumann’s Violin Sonatas on Challenge (CC72341).

Like the music of his Second Symphony, Brahms’ First Violin Sonata clearly reflects feelings of well-being, with its lilting melodies and heartfelt middle movement. As with all three sonatas, the violin dominates, but frequently leaves the lower sonorities and harmonics to the piano accompaniment.

The mood of the Second Sonata is also tender and warm, but the thematic structure is more concise, with textural references to three songs Brahms composed during that same period: 'Komm bald', 'Wie Melodien zieht es mir' and 'Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer'. The Third and last Violin Sonata was written in 1887 and was inspired by the breathtaking scenery surrounding Thun. Unlike the previous two sonatas, it has four movements and is symphonic in scale.