Weinberg’s first composition as a free man is Sonata No. 5 for violin and piano op. 53. This sonata, is one of the most important in the series and one of the key works of the composer’s entire oeuvre. Sonata n° 5  is dedicated to Dimitri Shostakovich who had the courage to demand the KGB the release of Weinberg. This lyrical piece features at the centre of the second volume of “Sonatas for violin and piano” by the Ensemble Des Équilibres, with Agnès Pyka and Dimitri Vassilakis (succeeding Laurent Wagschal). It is surprising to see a soloist of the “Ensemble Intercontemporain” (since 1992) venture into a repertoire far removed from the aesthetic affinities of its founder Pierre Boulez. But it must be believed that, like a Gidon Kremer, the passing of time allows us to better appreciate the contribution of a Weinberg. The comparison of French musicians with Gidon Kremer is comparable in Sonata n° 5 (with Martha Argerich, Live from Lugano 2014, Warner Classics) and Sonata n° 6 (with Yulianna Avdeeva, above): Gidon Kremer and his partners endeavour to attach Weinberg to the great tradition of chamber music, which is related to a sound based on admiration. This, while Agnès Pyka and Dimitri Vassilakis are looking for a taste that is harsher, that is more modernistic. This less comfortable approach is no less authentic artistically.

– Jean-Christophe Le Toquin

Read the whole article (FR):

Actualité de la musique de chambre de Weinberg au disque