Ian Watson

Ian Watson, Susanna Ogata – Beethoven: Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin, Vol. 3 (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:09:36 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Classical, Chamber Music, Romantic Era
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Coro

Ian Watson and Susanna Ogata’s acclaimed series on Coro Connections continues with the third album in their exploration of Beethoven’s Sonatas for fortepiano and violin. Written at a time when the composer was struggling to accept his growing deafness, the three sonatas on this volume were published together in 1803 as his Opus 30 and provide a remarkable trilogy – a collection of incredible variety and sophistication. The wide compositional range of this set demonstrates Beethoven’s prowess in creating bucolic, even humorous moments, contrasted with deep intensity, pathos and the truly sublime. Susanna Ogata has been praised for her ”totally convincing, spontaneous and free-flowing playing” (The Berkshire Review) and is a tenured member of the Handel and Haydn Society where she was appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the orchestra in 2014. Ian Watson has been described by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as ”a conductor of formidable ability”, and by The Times in London as a keyboard performer with ”virtuosic panache and brilliantly articulated playing” and ”a world-class soloist.” He was appointed Associate Conductor of Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society in 2016.

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Susanna Ogata, Ian Watson – Beethoven: Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin Volume 4 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 56:30 minutes | 1,07 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © CORO Connections

Ian Watson and Susanna Ogata’s acclaimed series on CORO Connections continues with the fourth disc in their exploration of Beethoven’s Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin. The Opus 12 Sonatas that are explored on this final volume are among the most Mozartian of the sonatas. They are, however, filled with Beethoven’s inimitable voice, from the assertive Sonata No. 1, in the violin’s most brilliant and sonorous key of D major, to the pianistically brilliant No. 3 in E flat with its cascades of triplets and sextuplets. Unmistakably Beethoven!

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Ian Watson, Susanna Ogata – Beethoven: Sonatas for Fortepiano & Violin, Volume 1 (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 58:18 minutes | 2,07 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Coro

Susanna Ogata and Ian Watson join forces to record the complete Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin of Ludwig van Beethoven in four installments. The first CD features Beethoven’s Fourth Sonata, Op. 23 in A minor, as well as the revolutionary ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, his ninth, Op. 47 in A major – a blazing landmark in violin virtuosity and classical music repertoire. Beethoven’s music and persona pushed the existing forms and instruments to their absolute limit. Using period instruments for which the music was originally written, Watson and Ogata reveal not only the clarity of Beethoven’s extraordinary musical structure, but also an amazing palette of colours. In doing so, this duo aims to recreate the white-hot intensity of the moment these striking sonatas were written and first performed.

Susanna Ogata has been praised for her ‘totally convincing, spontaneous and free-flowing playing’ (The Berkshire Review) and is a tenured member of the Handel and Haydn Society where she was appointed as Assistant Concertmaster of the orchestra in 2014.

Ian Watson has been described by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as ‘a conductor of formidable ability’, and by The Times in London as a keyboard performer with ‘virtuosic panache and brilliantly articulated playing’ and ‘a world-class soloist.’ He was appointed Resident Conductor of Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society in September 2014.
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