Enescu, Meet Brahms

Azoitei-Stan / Enescu: Vol. 1 Vol. 2

Read my review today on the Washington Post Web site:

Charles T. Downey, Romanian duo showcases Enescu, Brahms
Washington Post, December 11, 2009

Violinist Remus Azoitei and pianist Eduard Stan gave a concert in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Wednesday night. The Romanian Cultural Institute has taken this program of violin sonatas by George Enescu and Johannes Brahms on an international tour, concluding Thursday night at Carnegie Hall. The influence of Brahms, whom Enescu met and worked with during his student years in Vienna, was only one of many that Enescu would absorb and synthesize in his own unclassifiable style.

Azoitei and Stan released an exemplary two-disc set of the complete works of Enescu for violin and piano a couple of years ago, on the Hänssler Classic label, and the musicians' long collaboration made for an easy rapport in performance. Azoitei, a Romanian trained at Juilliard and now teaching in London, played with a fluid melodic sensibility and sparkling technique. His not always expansive tone could be submerged beneath the broader gestures of Stan, who was not afraid to unleash the Steinway's power, sometimes pushing the violin to the background. [Continue reading]

Enescu-Brahms: European Encounters
Remus Azoitei (violin) and Eduard Stan (piano)
Sponsored by the Romanian Cultural Institute
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater