The BEETHOVEN WHISPERER
The missing final Four…with all the contrasts!!!
all complete now!!!
“Volume I with sonatas 2, 4, and 9 was reviewed by Mr Magil (S/O 2023), who called them some of the very finest readings of these works; and we can extend these same words to Volume II” (American Record Guide March/April 2024)
“Just once in my lifetime, I wanted to record Beethoven’s ten violin sonatas as a cycle!” For violinist Antje Weithaas, this was a long-held wish. Well-known as an internationally renowned soloist and chamber musician, and as a sought-after violin professor, her repertoire ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Despite all these achievements, Beethoven’s sonatas for piano and violin are still of special significance to her.
”This music exudes profound humanity, a trait I find in each of the violin sonatas. And every piece by Beethoven I know contains a moment of deeply moving emotion.”
Antje Weithaas embarked on her journey through several creative periods of Beethoven’s output in the company of one of the most versatile, sensitive pianists of our time: the Hungarian Dénes Várjon.
Várjon is often on tour in the music venues of the world as soloist and as chamber musician; he is also devoted to teaching. Várjon has received his musical imprint from such outstanding Hungarian musicians as composer György Kurtág, violinist and conductor Sándor Vegh, and the pianists Ferenc Rados and András Schiff. (Excerpt from the booklet notes by Elisabeth Richter)
Brimming with energy, Antje Weithaas brings her compelling musical intelligence and technical
mastery to every detail in the score. Her charisma and stage presence are captivating, but never
overshadow the works themselves. Her wide-ranging repertoire encompasses a large portion of
major concerto and chamber music works from the Baroque age to the present day.
As a soloist, she has made appearances with a great number of orchestras in Europe and around
the globe, collaborating with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dmitri Kitayenko, Sir Neville
Marriner, Marc Albrecht, Yakov Kreizberg, Sakari Oramo, and Carlos Kalmar.
With her infectious zest for communication, Antje Weithaas has become a sought-after leader in
“Play-Conduct concerts” with internationally renowned chamber orchestras. She was Artistic Director
of the Camerata Bern for almost ten years and still returns to work with them on a regular basis.
Her concerts as Associated Artist of the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris in the 2021/22 season led
to an immediate re-invitation.
Weithaas’s recordings include the solo sonatas of Bach and Ysaÿe, the Ligeti horn trio, Beethoven
quartets, Schubert trios, and the violin concertos of Beethoven, Schumann, Berg, and Khachaturian.
More than anything else, Antje Weihaas is a chamber music musician par excellence and is playing
with many high qualified partners.
She won the Kreisler Competition in Graz in 1987 and the Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1988, as
well as the renowned Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hanover in 1991. Together
with Oliver Wille, she recently assumed the artistic directorship of the Joachim competition.
After teaching at the Berlin University of the Arts, Antje Weithaas was appointed to a chair at the Hochschule
für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in 2004, where she has acquired a pre-eminent worldwide reputation
as a violin teacher. She plays on a 2001 Peter Greiner violin. www.antje-weithaas.de