AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE :
Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Aaron Short have assembled an interesting program mostly of very rarely heard works. The sonata is, of course, standard repertoire and has been recorded by nearly every major violinist since Fritz Kreisler and Szymon Goldberg; and, while Skaerved and Shorr don't have big-time soloist pizzazz, they know their way around classical scores better than most big-time soloists, and this is a very satisfying, intelligent interpretation of that score. The other two works by Beethoven are without opus numbers. The Rondeau and Variations were probably written before Beethoven left Bonn for Vienna. The Rondeau was popularized by Fritz Kreisler in an abbreviated version he titled Rondino. The Variations are based on the famous aria from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.

The most unusual piece here is the one by Beethoven's famous patron Archduke Rudolph Esterhazy. The minuet that is the basis for his variations was composed by Prince Louis Ferdinand, nephew of Frederick the Great. The variations are surprising for their length and quality, having nothing dilettantish about them. This could be very satisfying for someone seeking something classical but off the beaten path. Excellent, well-researched booklet notes by Skaerved, who plays the "Habeneck" Stradivarius of 1734 here.
Joseph Magil

MUSICWEB:
With the possible exception of J.S.Bach, Beethoven is probably the most thoroughly explored of all major composers on record. So what is this intriguing series up to? Today the lesser-known Beethoven works tend to be early ones, but not these. All these are duos for piano and violin, and the Sonata is described as being for a piano with violin accompaniment, though it can confidently be regarded as as a violin sonata. A substantial four-movement work, classical in form, it was the last that Beethoven wrote for this combination, and reveals the composer in genial and gentle mood. Why Archduke Rudolf – Beethoven’s friend and patron – is featured in a rather formal set of variations is something of a mystery. It is a competent, if somewhat academic, work but isn’t there plenty more Beethoven for this combination left to explore?

This is a splendid start for what appears to be an ongoing project for this ambitious new UK label from deepest Wiltshire. These first-rate performers clearly love and deeply understand the music, their rapport is impeccable and the insights they provide into Beethoven’s mid-period style are fascinating. Peter Sheppard Skaerved’s noble Strad serves the music proudly, and clearly benefits from the support of a modern pianoforte rather than the fortepiano that nowadays might be expected. The recording quality is admirable.

Beethoven specialised in variations, where he could explore the sonorities and textures of simple tunes with his characteristic inventiveness and humour. The Rondo may be familiar in a version for solo piano, though I am not sure whether the composer’s autograph confirms this. Not all the piano variations are suitable recital material, but the twelve Mozart ones on an aria from The Marriage of Figaro as heard on this disc are a treasure.

The insert booklet is rambling and diffuse, but who cares; this is a highly desirable addition to any Beethoven archive.
Roy Brewer

MUSICAL POINTERS:
To start at the end, this is an auspicious Volume 1 to launch Metier's Beethoven Explored series, and it begins with an ideal performance of Beethoven's last sonata Op. 96.

That is an endearing and unique work which I particularly love and cherish - and in earlier years had often played it at home with violinist friends. Everything here makes me smile with pleasure at its 'rightness' - balance, articulation and phrasing, and the tone quality of both instruments (Peter Sheppard Skærved plays the RAM's 'Habaneck' Strad and Aaron Shorr the Steinway D at St John's Smith Square, perfectly set up for this repertoire). The cover portrait of Beethoven is perhaps a little severe for this particular sonata and the genial music accompanying it.

The series aims to present the Beethoven violin sonatas in their social and musical context. Here we have early duo pieces by Beethoven and an ambitious, interesting set of virtuosic variations by the sonata's dedicatee, Archduke Rudolf, on his little minuet which 'progresses through contrapuntal couplets, canons and inversions before breaking into romantic rhapsodising'. Peter Sheppard Skærved, who writes the compendious notes, wonders if Beethoven himself might have written the adagio variation towards the end.

I am tempted to say this is the best recording of Op. 96 I know, though recognising that unless you are a diligent comparative reviewer, the present (when it is good) always tends to dominate the past. No worry or competition though; this series is unique in its purpose and as such is to be unreservedly welcomed. Full informative background notes by the violinist and everything else in the safe hands of David Lefeber.
Peter Grahame Woolf

GRAMOPHONE :
There must be many different ways of exploring Beethoven. Imaginative programming - putting Beethoven’s last violin and piano sonata together with a work by his most illustrious patron, and adding two pieces from the beginning of his career - is certainly one way, and Peter Shappard Skærved’s unusually extensive notes, fascinating if slightly contentious, continue the exploration in another direction. But are the performances also searching and exploratory?

The playing is articulated with beautiful clarity, (enhanced by a notably clean recording); it’s a well-lit musical landscape in which all kinds of harmonic and textural details achieve prominence, Skærved’s assertion that Op. 96 is a ‘legato’ piece, written to exploit the style of Pierre Rode (who with the Archduke Rudolf gave its first performance), is given substance by his fine tone and persuasive cantabile style. Other performers - Argerich and Kremer, for instance - have been able to make the sonata’s meditative passages more solemn and mysterious, and the same objective manner characterises the Wo041 Rondo, which is bright and lively but needs more graceful expression to show the rise and fall of each phrase.

The Archduke’s large-scale Variations are performed with great gusto; Aaron Shorr makes a fine effect with the long coda, like an improvised piano cadenza to which the violin makes an occasional contribution. And it certainly adds something to our impression of Beethoven to hear so many elements of his piano style being taken over by his royal pupil.
Duncan Druce