Edith Peinemann (violin)
Radio Archives Edition
rec. 1957-90
Meloclassic MC2059 [9 CDs: 696]

Edith Peinemann, daughter of a concert master, was born in Mainz in 1937. She became an overnight celebrity after she won the 1956 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, performing concertos by Sibelius and Bartók, in addition to some solo Bach. Early on she had been hailed as “a second Ginette Neveu” by Wolfgang Schneiderhan, who had offered to teach her. Her father Robert had other ideas, however, and sent her to Heinz Stanske in Heidelberg. In 1953 she travelled to London to study with Max Rostal. In 1962 she made her first US tour. She so impressed George Szell that he used his influence to secure a magnificent 1732 Guarneri del Gesù, which became a constant companion from 1964; she later purchased it. Once her career was launched, she travelled the globe giving concerts. Her later years were devoted to teaching and giving masterclasses. She died in February 2023 aged 85.

The collection opens with a noble account of the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Peinemann is teamed up with the Orchestre de Radio-Luxembourg under the baton of Carl Melles, a name completely new to me. Having said that he brings some fine architectural support to proceedings. The recording is nicely balanced, with orchestra and soloist perfectly profiled. Peinemann employs the Kreisler cadenzas. Her warm tone in the slow movement illuminates the lyrical line, and in the finale, the soloist emerges as triumphant hero. From October 1957 we have a rugged reading of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, the orchestra again is the Radio-Luxembourg, this time with Henri Pensis at the helm. The performance fully evokes the panoramic vista of the remote Finnish landscape. Peinemann’s burnished tone is ideal in a large-scale canvas such as this. The central movement is imbued with dark and brooding melancholia, whilst the finale is played with energy and gusto.

Hans Müller-Kray’s regimented approach to Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major, in a performance from Stuttgart in October 1960, does nothing to inspire the soloist, and the result is a rather lacklustre performance which comes across as lifeless and stilted. There’s no such world-weary exhaustion in the Tartini G minor Concerto, heard in an arrangement by Max Rostal. Here, soloist and conductor are manifestly singing from the same hymn sheet. The Mozart 5 is a lovely stylish performance, with life-enhancing outer movements, bookending a radiant and lyrically sculpted Adagio.

One of the highlights of the set for me is a 1971 live performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante, where Peinemann is paired with Bruno Giuranna on viola. The soloists are well-matched and are presented in a musical conversation on an equal footing. Throughout, the two instruments are seamlessly intertwined. Karl Münchinger generates plenty of heat and engagement from the Stuttgart players. No assemblage such as this would be complete without the ubiquitous Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, a work rather hackneyed. I got the impression that the Concerto wasn’t really her thing, and the performance felt a little under committed. The Ravel Tzigane is likewise underwhelmed, with at essential ingredient of gypsy swagger notably missing.

CD 4 contains two Brahms concertos. The Violin Concerto, given 26 March 1976, took place in Hannover with the Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks conducted by Moshe Atzmon. It’s a terrific performance. Atzmon has an instinctive grasp of the architectural structure of the work and the tempo he sets seems just right. I find it compelling, vital, inspired, intensely dramatic and big-boned. Peinemann is on top form, projecting a muscular tone, essential in my mind for this work, and mapping the contours of drama, passion and lyricism throughout the narrative. She plays the Joachim cadenza. The Double Concerto with Maria Kliegel on cello is no less gripping. Han’s Zender is a wonderful conductor and keeps everything tightly reined in. The central movement is particularly soulful and expressive.

The pairing of the Mendelssohn and Schumann Violin Concertos on CD 5 works very well, and they complement each other. It’s a popular coupling, visited previously by Szeryng, Capuçon, Tetzlaff, Barton-Pine and Graffin. In the Mendelssohn Peinemann takes a leisurely approach, with lyrical passages heartfelt and expressive. In the slow movement, phrases are savoured and caressed. The sun comes out in the finale, with the articulation clean and metrically elastic. The Schumann, unjustly neglected in my view, is packed with luscious melodies. My favorite version is Menuhin’s 1930s recording with Barbirolli. Peinemann’s take on this attractive score stands up well in this 1987 performance with the Orchestra della Radio della Svizzera Italiana under the baton of Marc Andreae.

CDs 6,7 and 8 are devoted to works for violin and piano, the overwhelming bulk of which are sonatas with various pianists. Peinemann was fortunate to work with some of the finest that were around at the time, including Jörg Demus, Walter Klien and Leonard Hokanson. There are four Mozart Sonatas featured, and in these I feel that Peinemann is at her very best. She approaches them with both elegance and charm, projecting warmth, richness of tone and a wide colour spectrum. There’s spontaneity and empathy in abundance. A perfect example of this is the sunny Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, K454. A great favorite of mine is the Sonata in E minor, K304, and in this 1980 live airing from Zurich, Peinemann and her partner Walter Klien, a pianist who excelled in Mozart playing, capture the austere quality and underlying tragedy that pervades the opening movement.

The two Schubert Sonatas are worth a mention. The accompanist in both is the Austrian pianist Jörg Demus. The G minor, referred to more commonly as a sonatina was recorded in April 1965, whilst the more substantial A major Sonata was set down in December 1977. The players opt for agreeable tempos in both, allowing the music to freely flow and breathe. The A major is the finer work of the two, with a delightful and warmly lyrical first movement. A delicious Scherzo follows, well articulated and capricious. The Andantino has a graceful simplicity, and the work concludes with an ardently played finale. Peinemann and Walter Klien deliver a lovely reading of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No 10 in G Major, Op 96. It’s both fervent and inspired, and the duo project the radiance, joy, hope and pastoral qualities of the music to perfection. I was also particularly drawn to Bloch’s Nigun, which is given a subtly nuanced reading of powerful intensity.

Two quintets occupy the final disc, both deriving from a concert given in Ascona, Switzerland on on 2 October 1990. Schubert’s Trout is a much recorded work, and my favourites include Schiff and the Hagen Quartet and the classic Curzon and the Vienna players. This is an equally fine performance, engaging and uplifting with great freedom and spontaneity. It’s a reading characterized by a sense of shared purpose, with each player given his moment in the sun. Dvořák’s Quintet in G is scored for string quartet and double bass. It’s a lovely work, brimming over with beguiling lyricism, dancing rhythms and rich, radiant textures. It’s here given a wonderful and winning performance.

When Edith Peinemann died in 2023, there was a notable absence of any mention in the German press or musical world. She seemed sadly forgotten. It must be remembered that she was a much sought-after soloist in the 1950s and 60s, yet she made relatively few commercial recordings. Throughout her career, she championed the violin concertos of Berg, Reger, Hans Pfitzner and Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto. Sadly there are no examples of those works in this collection. However, what we’ve got are nine discs of live recordings, new to the Peinemann discography and all in marvellous sound and newly remastered. I found Dr. Christof Honecker’s substantial and detailed biography of the artist particularly enlightening. I’ll end by saying that this is a set to treasure.

Stephen Greenbank

Availability: Meloclassic

Contents
CD 1
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 61
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Orchestre de Radio-Luxembourg
Carl Melles ∙ conductor
Recorded · 14 November 1958 · Luxembourg · Villa Louvigny · RTL · Radio Studio Recording

BEETHOVEN: Romance No 2 in F Major, Op 50
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Radio Symphonieorchester Berlin
Hermann Hildebrandt ∙ conductor
Recorded · 5 September 1965 · Berlin · Philharmonie · SFB · Radio Studio Recording

SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op 47
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Orchestre de Radio-Luxembourg
Henri Pensis ∙ conductor
Recorded · 31 October 1957 · Luxembourg · Villa Louvigny · RTL · Radio Studio Recording

CD 2
BACH: Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Südfunk-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart
Hans Müller-Kray ∙ conductor
Recorded · 11 October 1960 · Stuttgart · Villa Berg · Radio Studio Recording

TARTINI: Concerto for Violin, Strings & Basso Continuo in G minor (arr. Max Rostal)
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Sinfonieorchester des Hessischen Rundfunks
Franco Caracciolo ∙ conductor
Recorded · 20 April 1958 · Frankfurt · Sendesaal · HR · Radio Studio Recording

MOZART: Violin Concerto No 5 in A Major, KV 219
MOZART: Rondo in C Major, KV 373
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Camerata Zürich
Räto Tschupp ∙ conductor
Recorded · 1 May 1969 · Zürich · Tonhalle · DRS · Live Recording

CD 3
MOZART: Sinfonia concertante in E-flat Major, KV 364∕320d
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Bruno Giuranna ∙ viola
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart
Karl Münchinger ∙ conductor
Recorded · 13 October 1971 · Stuttgart · Liederhalle · SDR · Live Recording

TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 35
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Rundfunkorchester Hannover des NDR
Willy Steiner ∙ conductor
Recorded · 9 September 1966 · Hannover · Landesfunkhaus · NDR · Live Recording

RAVEL: Tzigane − Rhapsodie de concert, M 76
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Radio Symphonieorchester Berlin
Hermann Hildebrandt ∙ conductor
Recorded · 23 June 1968 · Berlin · Philharmonie · SFB · Live Recording

CD 4
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 77
BACH: Gavotte en Rondeau, ‘Partita No 3’ (Encore)
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks
Moshe Atzmon ∙ conductor
Recorded · 26 March 1976 · Hannover · Landesfunkhaus · NDR · Live Recording

BRAHMS: Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op 102
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Maria Kliegel ∙ cello
Junge Deutsche Philharmonie
Hans Zender ∙ conductor
Recorded · 16 March 1979 · Berlin · Saal 1 · SFB · Radio Studio Recording

CD 5
HAYDN: Violin Concerto in C Major, Hob.VIIa:1
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Zürcher Kammerorchester
Edmond de Stoutz ∙ conductor
Recorded · 11 February 1981 · Karlsruhe · Sendesaal · SDR · Live Recording

MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op 64
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Orchestre National de l’ORTF
Gerd Albrecht ∙ conductor
Recorded · 22 November 1974 · Paris · Salle Pleyel · ORTF · Live Recording

SCHUMANN: Violin Concerto in D minor, WoO 23
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Orchestra della Radio della Svizzera Italiana
Marc Andreae ∙ conductor
Recorded · 29 January 1987 · Lugano-Besso · Studio Auditorio · RSI · Live Recording

CD 6
BRAHMS: Violin Sonata No 1 in G Major, Op 78
PROKOFIEV: The Winter Fairy ‘Cinderella, Op 87’ (Arr. M. Rostal)
BLOCH: Nigun, ‘Baal Shem’, B.47
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Magda Rusy ∙ piano
Recorded · 2 November 1959 · Hamburg · Funkhaus · NDR · Radio Studio Recording

SUK: 4 Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op 17
MOZART: Rondo in C Major, KV 373
RAVEL: Pièce En Forme De Habanera (Arr. G. Catherine)
BARTÓK: Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No 1, Sz 86
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Helmut Barth ∙ piano
Recorded · 15 February 1963 · Hamburg · Funkhaus · NDR · Radio Studio Recording

CD 7
MOZART: Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, KV 380∕374f
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Dory Ritschard ∙ piano
Recorded · 17 February 1958 · Bern · Studio · DRS · Radio Studio Recording

MOZART: Violin Sonata in G Major, KV 379∕373a
SCHUBERT: Violin Sonata in G Minor, D 408
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Jörg Demus ∙ piano
Recorded · 28 April 1965 · Hamburg · Funkhaus · NDR · Radio Studio Recording

SCHUBERT: Violin Sonata in A major, D 574
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Jörg Demus ∙ piano
Recorded · 13 December 1977 · Stuttgart · Villa K · SDR · Radio Studio Recording

CD 8
MOZART: Violin Sonata in E minor, KV 304/300c
SCHUMANN: Violin Sonata No 1 in A minor, Op 105
BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No 10 in G Major, Op 96
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Walter Klien ∙ piano
Recorded · 30 May 1980 · Zürich · Studio 1 · DRS · Live Recording

MOZART: Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, KV 454
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Leonard Hokanson ∙ piano
Recorded · 20 March 1985 · Aalen · Stadthalle · SDR · Live Recording

CD 9
SCHUBERT: Piano Quintet in A Major, D 667 ‘Trout Quintet’
Helmut Barth ∙ piano
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Enrique Santiago ∙ viola
Martin Ostertag ∙ cello
Wolfgang Güttler ∙ double bass
DVOŘÁK: String Quintet No 2 in G Major, Op 77
Edith Peinemann ∙ violin
Kotowa Machida ∙ violin
Enrique Santiago ∙ viola
Martin Ostertag ∙ cello
Wolfgang Güttler ∙ double bass
Recorded · 2 October 1990 · Ascona · Chiesa Del Collegio Papio · RSI · Live Recording