Perhaps it’s the roomy, opulent engineering talking, but I can’t help but liken violinist Andrea Duka Löwenstein and pianist Phillip Moll’s Schubert interpretations to being served juicy slabs of porterhouse steak at a simple garden party. Loud passages erupt from your speakers in a manner more in keeping with a Bruckner climax than the Schubert Violin Sonatinas’ more intimate parameters. Rather than a surprise, the violin’s entrance at the A minor’s outset sounds more like an explosion, while the recording’s resonant patina compromises the immediacy of the D major’s animated melodic conversations between the two instruments.
But if the sonics ultimately seem too big for the music, at least they don’t fatigue your ears–and the performances are marvelous. Löwenstein’s hearty timbre suggests not so much the presence of a bow arm as a mouthpiece with the best clarinet reed money can buy. At the piano, Phillip Moll once again proves his reputation as one of the world’s most alert and seasoned collaborative pianists. Listen to his pinpointed responses to the violin line in the A minor’s finale and the A major Duo’s first-movement second subject and you’ll swear Moll’s left hand has a built-in radar screen. Sonic quibbles aside, I can easily recommend this release alongside Suk, Grumiaux, and Schneider for the Sonatinas, and the superb budget-priced A major Duo from Pamela and Claude Frank.
