Album: Beethoven, Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano, (Harmonia Mundi)

Scholarship and invention unite to extraordinary effect in this dazzling four-disc set.

Alexander Melnikov's characterisation of the piano parts, from the historically informed "rolled" left-hand chords to the heroic dialogue of the final movement of the C Minor Sonata, is as revelatory as Isabelle Faust's vividly articulated, expressive performance, which incorporates George Bridgetower's improvisations from the 1803 premiere of the Kreutzer Sonata. A thrilling series of narratives, related with wit and passion.