Latest releases
BEETHOVEN: Sonatas for Piano and Violin
Watch the video about the project here
REVIEWS
Volume 3 (2022):
'Michael Foyle and Maksim Štšura retain a strong sense of chamber-scale intimacy, ensuring that Beethoven’s sforzando outbursts strain at the leash, as surely he originally intended ... They are also remarkably detailed in their responses, relishing the shock of the new ... Time and again, as witness the glorious central theme and variations, Foyle and Štšura articulate their phrasing with a deftness and clarity that subtly enhances the music’s emotional power ... The final sonata in the series, Op. 96 in G major, exchanges chest-beating heroics for time-suspending poetics, creating the haunting impression of listening in on Beethoven’s most private thoughts. Whereas the general tendency is to apply overblown rhetorical gesturing, by allowing the music to just ‘be’ in the moment, Foyle and Štšura reveal its gentle essence. The finale, in particular, is beautifully shaped, with a magical exploration of lower dynamics, topped off by joyous dancing that for once suggests the use of soft shoes in flight rather than galumphing hob-nail boots. First-rate sonics, too, which, like the performances themselves, balance detail and warmth to perfection.' * * * * * - BBC Music Magazine
'From the opening notes of the 'Kreutzer' Sonata one senses Foyle's dramatic presence ... The back and forth between violin and piano is vividly intense, with the violin's pizzicati sounding with whiplash crispness. At the other end of the spectrum, the Adagio espressivo is played with touching intimacy, at times almost like a private conversation. The violinist's singing tone and supple phrasing almost turn it into an aria. It is clear that these are not run-throughs but are committed, artistically finished performances.Throughout I found myself caught up up by the intesity and concentration of the playing. ' - Fanfare
Volume 2 (2021):
'Recording Beethoven's complete violin sonatas in Mechelen, the home of Beethoven's forebears, during a period of near-global isolation revealed to this Scottish-Estonian duo new layers of emotional and psychological intensity, and you certainly hear this in the rapport between the two players ... the personality and the integrity of this duo are evident throughout ... The evident care taken by both players and the attractive variety of tone colours Foyle draws from his 1750 Gagliano make the prospect of the final volume in this series a tempting one.' - Gramophone
'more Classically contained than Kremer and Argerich (DG), better musically balanced than Menuhin and Kempff (also DG) and less interventionist than Faust and Melnikov (Harmonia Mundi) ... By avoiding any hint of big player rhetoric or self-conscious interpretative tinkering, Foyle and Štšura keep the mind focused on Beethoven’s wide-ranging inspiration and radical thought patterns ... The result is an engaging set of performances that cast fresh light on this much-recorded area of the repertoire.' - BBC Music Magazine
Volume 1 (2020):
'these performances are some of the very best I’ve heard among a recent spate of entries in this repertoire. In fact, I’d say they’re well-nigh ideal. Foyle produces an absolutely gorgeous sound on his 1750 Gennaro Gagliano violin, with modern setup. The tone is of a purity and alluring sweetness above the staff, while sacrificing nothing of robustness on the G- and D-strings. His bowing is strong and incisive but always smooth, evincing no grittiness or roughness, even in the execution of chords and forte passages. Vibrato is audible but discreet ... He never attenuates his tone in soft passages to the point where he disappears beneath the piano. Balance between the two instruments is consistent and equal, as is the balance between the two players in matters of phrasing and other interpretive details. The recording is excellent.' - Fanfare
'From beginning to end they put Beethoven in the right light: with spontaneity, joie-de-vivre, a little bravura but also adding tranquility, subtlety and drama where necessary, this all with outstanding timing... with this release they deserve a high position among the many acclaimed recordings available' - Luister Magazine (Netherlands)
Watch the video about the project here
REVIEWS
Volume 3 (2022):
'Michael Foyle and Maksim Štšura retain a strong sense of chamber-scale intimacy, ensuring that Beethoven’s sforzando outbursts strain at the leash, as surely he originally intended ... They are also remarkably detailed in their responses, relishing the shock of the new ... Time and again, as witness the glorious central theme and variations, Foyle and Štšura articulate their phrasing with a deftness and clarity that subtly enhances the music’s emotional power ... The final sonata in the series, Op. 96 in G major, exchanges chest-beating heroics for time-suspending poetics, creating the haunting impression of listening in on Beethoven’s most private thoughts. Whereas the general tendency is to apply overblown rhetorical gesturing, by allowing the music to just ‘be’ in the moment, Foyle and Štšura reveal its gentle essence. The finale, in particular, is beautifully shaped, with a magical exploration of lower dynamics, topped off by joyous dancing that for once suggests the use of soft shoes in flight rather than galumphing hob-nail boots. First-rate sonics, too, which, like the performances themselves, balance detail and warmth to perfection.' * * * * * - BBC Music Magazine
'From the opening notes of the 'Kreutzer' Sonata one senses Foyle's dramatic presence ... The back and forth between violin and piano is vividly intense, with the violin's pizzicati sounding with whiplash crispness. At the other end of the spectrum, the Adagio espressivo is played with touching intimacy, at times almost like a private conversation. The violinist's singing tone and supple phrasing almost turn it into an aria. It is clear that these are not run-throughs but are committed, artistically finished performances.Throughout I found myself caught up up by the intesity and concentration of the playing. ' - Fanfare
Volume 2 (2021):
'Recording Beethoven's complete violin sonatas in Mechelen, the home of Beethoven's forebears, during a period of near-global isolation revealed to this Scottish-Estonian duo new layers of emotional and psychological intensity, and you certainly hear this in the rapport between the two players ... the personality and the integrity of this duo are evident throughout ... The evident care taken by both players and the attractive variety of tone colours Foyle draws from his 1750 Gagliano make the prospect of the final volume in this series a tempting one.' - Gramophone
'more Classically contained than Kremer and Argerich (DG), better musically balanced than Menuhin and Kempff (also DG) and less interventionist than Faust and Melnikov (Harmonia Mundi) ... By avoiding any hint of big player rhetoric or self-conscious interpretative tinkering, Foyle and Štšura keep the mind focused on Beethoven’s wide-ranging inspiration and radical thought patterns ... The result is an engaging set of performances that cast fresh light on this much-recorded area of the repertoire.' - BBC Music Magazine
Volume 1 (2020):
'these performances are some of the very best I’ve heard among a recent spate of entries in this repertoire. In fact, I’d say they’re well-nigh ideal. Foyle produces an absolutely gorgeous sound on his 1750 Gennaro Gagliano violin, with modern setup. The tone is of a purity and alluring sweetness above the staff, while sacrificing nothing of robustness on the G- and D-strings. His bowing is strong and incisive but always smooth, evincing no grittiness or roughness, even in the execution of chords and forte passages. Vibrato is audible but discreet ... He never attenuates his tone in soft passages to the point where he disappears beneath the piano. Balance between the two instruments is consistent and equal, as is the balance between the two players in matters of phrasing and other interpretive details. The recording is excellent.' - Fanfare
'From beginning to end they put Beethoven in the right light: with spontaneity, joie-de-vivre, a little bravura but also adding tranquility, subtlety and drama where necessary, this all with outstanding timing... with this release they deserve a high position among the many acclaimed recordings available' - Luister Magazine (Netherlands)
LUTOSLAWSKI AND PENDERECKI: COMPLETE MUSIC FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO (2019)
Click here for information
REVIEWS
'This is an absolute cracker of a disc and right from the first note, one feels that one is hearing something extraordinary ... The performances are responsive, intelligent and very polished ... a performance that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat' - Classical Music Daily
'Lutosławski wrote Subito as a violin competition test piece towards the end of his life, and here it shows off the technique not only of the violinist Michael Foyle but that of the pianist Maksim Štšura. Both players catch its beauty, and they are equally persuasive in Lutosławski’s haunting Recitativo e arioso, earliest (1951) of the pieces here. More often heard in its version with orchestra, Partita is spikier, and Foyle and Štšura handle it with commanding aplomb. The Three Miniatures, Webern-like in their compactness, certainly belong to Penderecki’s avant-garde period, and the Sonata No. 1 is his first published work yet highly accomplished — and enjoyable thanks to this Scottish-Estonian duo’s musical intelligence.’ - BBC Music Magazine
'The playing is gutsy, alive and alert, these short pieces brilliant scene setters for Penderecki’s fiery Sonata No 1. After the same composer’s aphoristic Three Miniatures and Lutoslawski’s Bartók-influenced Partita, Penderecki’s Sonata No 2 (composed in 2000), the most recent of all the works represented, is a gripping apotheosis, its anguished final movement disappearing high into the musical stratosphere.' - The Scotsman