Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 -Spring-, 9 -Kreutzer- & 3 Alena Baeva & Vadym Kholodenko

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 "Spring":
• 1 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 "Spring": I. Allegro 09:45
• 2 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 "Spring": II. Adagio molto espressivo 05:31
• 3 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 "Spring": III. Scherzo. Allegro molto - Trio 01:17
• 4 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 "Spring": IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo 06:45
• Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer":
• 5 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer": I. Adagio sostenuto - Presto 14:13
• 6 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer": II. Andante con variazioni 15:19
• 7 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer": III. Finale. Presto 08:31
• Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12 No. 3:
• 8 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12 No. 3: I. Allegro con spirito 08:53
• 9 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12 No. 3: II. Adagio con molt’ espressione 05:58
• 10 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12 No. 3: III. Rondo. Allegro molto 04:14
• Total Runtime 01:20:26

Info for Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 -Spring-, 9 -Kreutzer- & 3

Alena Baeva and Vadym Kholodenko are starting their recording of Beethoven's complete sonatas for violin and piano. Alena is recognised as a versatile violinist with a magnetic presence and now performs with the greatest orchestras and conductors, while Vadym has been one of the most impressive pianists of his generation since winning the gold medal at the 2013 Van Cliburn Competition. For more than ten years, they have formed a close-knit and highly sought-after duo (both on and off stage). The three sonatas featured on this recording (Op. 12 No. 3, Op. 24 “Spring” and Op. 47 “Kreutzer”) were composed between 1797 and 1803, a period that brought Beethoven both his first recognition on the European stage and the first signs of his deafness... Baeva and Kholodenko used the 2020 edition by Bärenreiter and carried out in-depth research into their interpretative choices: phrasing, ornamentation and tempi are the result of this research and of sources from the period.

Alena Baeva, violin
Vadym Kholodenko, piano

Alena Baeva
Described as ​“a magnetic presence” (New York Classical Review), violinist Alena Baeva is considered one of the most versatile and captivating soloists active on the world stage today. Possessing a passionate musical curiosity, Baeva holds a vast active repertoire: she is a champion of lesser-known works alongside the more mainstream violin literature, including such composers as Bacewicz, Karaev, Karłowicz and Silvestrov.

As an international soloist, Baeva has performed with orchestras including New York Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony orchestras, Hong Kong and Seoul philharmonic orchestras, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, to name a few. Highlights of this season include The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Ensemble Resonanz, Il Giardino Armonico, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. She has worked with leading conductors including Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Cornelius Meister, Riccardo Minasi, Tomáš Netopil, Kazushi Ono, Petr Popelka, Dinis Sousa and Kazuki Yamada.

Chamber music holds a particularly special place in Baeva’s musical life, and she enjoys collaborations with such artists as Yuri Bashmet, Daishin Kashimoto, Misha Maisky, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and the Belcea Quartet. Her regular duo partner is Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko, and this season will perform at Wigmore Hall, Athens’s Megaron and Amici della Musica in Florence.

Baeva records for the Alpha Classics label: her upcoming album is Vol.1 of the integral cycle of Beethoven violin sonatas, recorded with Vadym Kholodenko. Her previous release Fantasy (Alpha, 2024) was praised by Gramophone as “an intriguing sequence where each work benefits from illumination by its programme neighbours” and features works by Schubert, Stravinsky, Schumann and Messiaen, recorded with Vadym Kholodenko. Baeva’s discography also includes Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2 on gut strings with Orchestra of the XVIII Century (2021); Karłowicz Violin Concerto with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2018); Schumann Violin Concerto and original 1844 version of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto for Melodiya Records (2020).

Born in Kyrgyzstan with Slavic-Tatar ancestry, Baeva took her first violin lessons at the age of five under renowned pedagogue Olga Danilova in Kazakhstan before studying with Professor Eduard Grach in Russia. She also took lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Garlitsky, and Shlomo Mintz, and took part in the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland, focused on string quartet repertoire. Naturalised Luxembourgish, Alena Baeva has resided in Luxembourg since 2010.

Alena Baeva plays on the ​“ex-William Kroll” Guarneri del Gesù of 1738 – on a generous loan from an anonymous patron, with the kind assistance of J&A Beares.

Vadym Kholodenko
Combining fierce pianism, an unrivalled breadth of repertoire, and a level of interpretative refinement that ascends to the realms of poetry, Vadym Kholodenko rises as an artist the likes of which the world has rarely seen since the great pianists of the Golden Age.

Gold Medallist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Kholodenko’s distinguished pianism and profound artistic gifts have led to invitations from many of the world’s finest orchestras and concert halls. Recent and forthcoming concerto highlights include those with leading orchestras of North America (Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra); Europe (Budapest Festival Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, London Philharmonic, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra); and Asia & the Far East (National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra). In recent seasons, he has held the position of Artist-in-Residence with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (Texas, USA), and the SWR Symphonieorchester (Stuttgart, Germany), and in 2025 made his debut at London’s BBC Proms.

Kholodenko has forged strong musical partnerships with many of the world’s leading conductors, including Karina Canellakis, Myung-Whun Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Marie Jacquot, Cristian Măcelaru, Susanna Mälkki, Gemma New, Sir Antonio Pappano, Dima Slobodeniouk, Thomas Søndergård, Krzyzstof Urbański, and Kazuki Yamada, amongst others.

In recital, Kholodenko appears on the world’s leading stages – from London, Paris, and Vienna, to Boston, Chicago, and New York – where he is praised for his “iron-clad technique, capable of moments of crystalline delicacy” (The Guardian). He is also a thoughtful and committed chamber musician, enjoying rewarding collaborations with an array of such artists as Clara Jumi-Kang, Anastasia Kobekina, Vadim Repin, and the Belcea and Jerusalem string quartets. He has made numerous recordings with violinist Alena Baeva, with whom recent and forthcoming appearances include concerts in the cultural capitals of Florence, London, and Paris. Possessing an extraordinary facility for the assimilation of music, the sheer scale of Kholodenko’s knowledge and command of the piano literature is unrivalled, and he holds a vast array of active repertoire. His discography to date encompasses solo piano works by a diverse list of composers (J.S. Bach, Balakirev, Beethoven, Chaplygin, Kurbatov, Liszt, Medtner, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Rzewski, Schubert, Scriabin, Siloti, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky, amongst others). Recordings for the Harmonia Mundi record label include the Grieg Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2, and the complete cycle of Prokofiev’s piano concertos. Kholodenko’s recordings have been described as “truly outstanding” (Gramophone Magazine), and received such accolades as Editor’s Choice Award (BBC Music Magazine), and the much-coveted Diapason d’Or de l’année. His latest release – a pairing of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for the Quartz Music label (2022) – met with tremendous critical acclaim, described as “carefully contoured and impactful” (BBC Music Magazine), and “playing that pulls no punches: Kholodenko is in the elite of classical pianists” (Norman Lebrecht, for The Critic).

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Vadym Kholodenko took his first piano lessons at the age of six, and began touring internationally at thirteen years old. He was educated at the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, under the renowned pedagogues Natalia Gridneva, Borys Fedorov, and Vera Gornostaeva. He won First Prize at the Sendai International Piano Competition (2010) and Schubert International Piano Competition (2011), before taking the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2013). He is now resident in Luxembourg.

Booklet for Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 -Spring-, 9 -Kreutzer- & 3