CARL MARIA VON WEBER (1786-1826): 6 Sonatas for Piano and Violin, Op. 10, Piano Quartet in B Flat, Op. 8.

Description: The half dozen little sonatas, written in 1810 and refused by their commissioning publisher because they weren't "easy" enough for their intended market, have been rather like orphans in Weber's output so we offer this new, period-instrument recording in case you've never met them. They're quite full of subversive little touches, quite in keeping with Weber's burgeoning Romantic spirit, which may have put off the publisher more than their moderate technical demands. The better-known quintet (1809) has a slow movement originally written in 1806 that is full of flashes of Romantic genius while the other three movements are more Classically behaved but not without their surprises. Isabelle Faust (violin), Alexander Melnikov (c.1815 "Lagrassa" fortepiano), Boris Faust (viola), Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt (cello).