Maria & Nathalia Milstein - Schubert, Fauré en Smetana

The Milstein Sisters

Violinist Maria and pianist Nathalia Milstein both have impressive careers. And both have their own musical personality. As sisters, the two are completely attuned to each other and a duo recital by the two is a stunning example of teamwork. That is not an unnecessary luxury in this challenging program.

Schubert's 'Grand Duo' for violin and piano is a formidable 'song without words'. It is technically more challenging than Schubert's previous sonatas, especially in the energetic dialogues between the two instruments. There is a world of 40 years and a world of difference between Fauré's First and Second Violin Sonatas . The First sonata is brilliant and richly decorated, the Second is introspective and intense. It is music with great expressiveness. At the end of his life, the Czech Smetana, whom we know best from De Moldau , had become deaf and lived in isolation. It is therefore not surprising that his two duos for violin and piano From the Homeland are very melancholic: it is a window into a past in which he was still in the middle of life, in his beloved homeland.