MARIA CONRAD Violin
GISÈLE GRIMA Piano 

Ludwig van Beethoven 1st Movement from Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47, “Kreutzer Sonata” 

Composed in 1803, this sonata, which inspired Tolstoy to write a novel bearing the same title, was dedicated to the French violinist Kreutzer who ironically found this music too complex and never performed it himself.  The cadenza-style entrance on the violin and the slow semitone motif are the basis for the entire first movement, bursting out dramatically at the Presto section in a relentless drive of fiery energy between the two instruments.