Eva Graubin [photo cas SCHUMANN. Violin Sonatas—No. 1 in A minor, No. 2 in 0 minor. Eva Graubin (vn); Theodore Par- askivesco (pf). CBS Masterworks digital ® lM42053; IMT42053.

Both these sonatas were in fact written in the autumn of 1851, just when ominous doubts first loomed about Schumann's fitness for his recent appointment as Düsseldorf's director of music. Stylistically, however, the shorter A minor work is as typical of the earlier, spontaneously lyrical Schumann as the D minor Sonata is of the older, more ambitious craftsman who by this time was acknowledging Bach as his contrapuntal mentor rather than Jean Paul. Both Schumann and his wife valued the D minor work more than the A minor; significantly, Clara even included it in her first public recital with Joachim the year before her husband's breakdown. Today it is the A minor Sonata that wins all hearts, and it is certainly the more winning of the two performances here just because it allows Eva Graubin's violin more chance to soar and sing—not least in the troubled first movement. She also finds the slow move merit's wayward, whimsical charm despite a fastish tempo for the recurrent main theme.

I was less happy about balance in the D minor Sonata, particularly its long, closely-reasoned opening movement (which with a repeated exposition, as here, seems slightly to outstay its welcome). Perhaps because of the texture itself, I frequently thought the sturdy Paraskivesco's piano too loud. I would again like to have heard more of the violin in the two contrasting trios of the Scherzo, a movement that could easily be attributed to the young Brahms who had not yet crossed Schumann's path. The slow movement, cast as variations on a chorale, confirms Graubin's sensitive musicianship, though again in the finale's main theme she is the more reticent partner. The acoustic is nevertheless kinder to her mellow tone than to the closely recorded keyboard, which sounds curiously boxy. J.O.C.

(See also "News and Views" on page 134)