Gramophone Magazine
February 2020
Editor's Choice

Antje Weithaas (violin), Maximilian Hornung (cello)

NDR Radiophilharmonie, Andrew Manze

Schumann: Violin Concerto in D minor, WoO 23
Brahms: Concerto for Violin & Cello in A Minor, Op. 102 "Double Concerto"

Antje Weithaas probes every detail in the musical text, charged with energy and with her compelling musical intelligence and unrivaled command of technique. Her charisma and stage presence are gripping but never force their way in front of the work. And we therefore are happy that this internationally top-ranking violinist is now interpreting the Violin Concerto by Robert Schumann and the Double Concerto by Johannes Brahms for cpo with Maximilian Hornung, a cellist who in every way is her equal. And they perform these works with the NDR Radio Philharmonic under the genial leadership of its principal conductor Andrew Manze, who has just renewed his contract with this orchestra through 2023. This recording brings together three great musicians and two composers who enjoyed the closest of relationships. Both works were written for the outstanding violinist Joseph Joachim, who played a central role for Schumann as well as for Brahms.

"It’s her ability to illuminate the music’s dark corners [in the Schumann] that makes her performance among the most persuasive on disc...[In the Brahms] Weithaas is joined by the superb Maximilian Hornung, and the two play with real lyrical urgency...Manze elicits playing of remarkable clarity and rhythmic vitality from the NDR Radiophilharmonie – as crucial in the Brahms as it is in the Schumann – and the recorded balance between soloists and orchestra is close to ideal." - Gramophone Magazine, February 2020.