Spring with Mozart and Beethoven

On this week’s Arizona Encore, we welcome Spring with two masterworks that earned the nickname “Spring,” including Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5. We often think of Beethoven as bridging the Classical period with the Romantic period, and he produced his Violin Sonata No. 5 in 1801, when he was at the very edge of this musical transition. The “Spring” Sonata is still rooted in the Classical style: we hear a kind of grace, transparency, and lightness, but also interspersed within this is the boldness of the Romantic era.

This week’s broadcast features performances from the Grand Canyon Music Festival with violinists Brendan Speltz and Connie Kupka, violist Luke Fleming, and cellist David Speltz; and a Downtown Chamber Series performance with violinist Steven Moeckel and pianist Paula Fan.