Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Hahn & Pierné: La sonate de Vinteuil Maria Milstein & Nathalia Milstein

• Gabriel Pierné (1863 - 1937): Sonate pour violon et piano en Ré Mineur, Op. 36:
• 1 Sonate pour violon et piano en Ré Mineur, Op. 36: I. Allegretto 09:06
• 2 Sonate pour violon et piano en Ré Mineur, Op. 36: II. Allegretto tranquillo 05:38
• 3 Sonate pour violon et piano en Ré Mineur, Op. 36: III. Andante non troppo. Allegretto un poco agitato 08:30
• Hahn Reynaldo (1874 - 1947): A Chloris:
• 4 A Chloris 03:23
• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): Sonate pour violon et piano No. 1 en Ré Mineur, Op. 75:
• 5 Sonate pour violon et piano No. 1 en Ré Mineur, Op. 75: Allegro agitato 06:41
• 6 Sonate pour violon et piano No. 1 en Ré Mineur, Op. 75: Adagio 05:46
• 7 Sonate pour violon et piano No. 1 en Ré Mineur, Op. 75: Allegro moderato 03:59
• 8 Sonate pour violon et piano No. 1 en Ré Mineur, Op. 75: Allegro molto 06:04
• Hahn Reynaldo: 7 Chansons grises:
• 9 7 Chansons grises: V. L’Heure Exquise 02:36
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Sonate pour violon et piano, L. 140:
• 10 Sonate pour violon et piano, L. 140: I. Allegro vivo 04:53
• 11 Sonate pour violon et piano, L. 140: II. Intermède. Fantasque et léger 04:24
• 12 Sonate pour violon et piano, L. 140: III. Finale. Très animé 04:38
• Total Runtime 01:05:38

Info zu Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Hahn & Pierné: La sonate de Vinteuil

One of the most famous musical enigmas in literature, the fictional Vinteuil Sonata at the heart of Marcel Proust's magnum opus, In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu), is the inspiration for a new CD featuring sibling musicians Maria (violin) and Nathalia Milstein (piano).

Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT) Fellowship winner, Maria Milstein, held dear the idea of a recital based on the imaginary Vinteuil Sonata for some years and did not hesitate to make it a reality when awarded her BBT Fellowship in 2016. The Vinteuil Sonata is released on 27 October 2017 on the French Mirare label, supported by BBT.

There has been much speculation as to the origins of 'the little phrase' that bewitches Swann, the protagonist of the novel’s first volume. Where did Proust hear it? Or was it an amalgam of musical phrases he might have heard in the works of composers such as Saint-Saëns, Fauré or Debussy, performed in the Parisian salons of the Belle Époque that he frequented? Proust’s exquisite descriptions of the music and the elusive, ecstatic feelings it inspires continue to kindle the imaginations of performers to this day.

There is evidence that Proust once referred to Saint-Saëns as the composer behind the Vinteuil Sonata: a memorable 'petite phrase' occurs in the first and last movements of his Sonata for violin and piano No 1 in D minor, Op 75, exactly as Swann describes it. But, the same citation could be made in Gabriel Pierné's sonata, a work that Proust may also have heard.

The additional works on this Proustian CD are also in keeping with the novel’s literary contemplations of lost time. The spirit of Debussy's late sonata (the last major work he completed before he died) is very much that of a nostalgic reflection on a whole lifetime - the music, like words, searching for expression of intangible dreams, memories and desires. Finally, the two songs by Proust's intimate friend Reynaldo Hahn, complement the sense of the quest for expression of fleeting reminiscence without words (the voice is replaced in the transcription by the violin).

In conjunction with the CD, a two short films will be released online featuring the Milstein duo in this repertoire, filmed by UNIK ACCESS (sound: Franck Jaffrès, image: Bénédicte Banet). The CD will be launched at a recital on 22 September at the Via Aeterna Festival in Mont Saint-Michel, France and there are also discussions underway for a future theatrical staging of The Vinteuil Sonata.

Maria Milstein, violin
Nathalia Milstein, piano

Maria Milstein
Born in Moscow into a family of musicians, Maria Milstein studied in Amsterdam with Ilya Grubert, in London with David Takeno and at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo (Belgium) with Augustin Dumay.

Maria is a prizewinner of major international competitions both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, such as "Città di Brescia" and "Premio Rodolfo Lipizer" in Italy, the ARD Competition in Munich, the Lyon Chamber Music Competition and the Kersjes Prize in the Netherlands. In 2016, Maria is awarded the Fellowship of the Borletti Buitoni Trust, and in 2018, she receives the Dutch Music Prize - the highest recognition for a classical musician in the Netherlands awarded by the Ministry of Culture.

Maria performs extensively across Europe in halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, BOZAR in Brussels, Musikverein in Vienna, the Philharmonie of Cologne and Cité de la Musique in Paris. She has appeared as a soloist with a.o. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Hague Philharmonic, the Brussels Philharmonic and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and worked with conductors such as Vasily Petrenko, Otto Tausk, Tomas Netopil, Daniele Rustioni, Michel Tabachnik, Jan Willem de Vriend, Duncan Ward and Reinbert de Leeuw.

A keen chamber musician, Maria formed the successful Van Baerle Trio together with pianist Hannes Minnaar and cellist Gideon den Herder, one of the leading trios of its generation. After winning the ARD Competition and the Lyon Chamber Music Competition, the Trio made the ECHO Rising Stars Tour in 2014, peforming in famous concert halls all over Europe. The Trio already released two CD's, both praised in the international press, and recently released the complete works for piano trio by Beethoven for Challenge Records.

Maria's latest solo album for Channel Classics, featuring both Prokofiev Violin Concerto's with Phion Orchestra conducted by Otto Tausk, received international appraisal and the highest accolades in magazines such as Diapason and Classica.

Maria released several recordings in the previous years; her debut CD « Sounds of War », recorded with pianist Hanna Shybayeva for Cobra Records and featuring Sonatas by Poulenc, Janáček and Prokofiev, received lavish reviews in the international press and won the Edison Klassiek Prize 2015 in the category “best chamber music album”. In 2017 her second album “La Sonate de Vinteuil”, recorded with pianist Nathalia Milstein is released on the French label Mirare, and is voted "best CD of 2017" by the Dutch press. Maria and Nathalia recorded a second album for Mirare in 2019, "Ravel Voyageur", which was awarded the prestigious Diapason d'Or and received international praise.

Together with violinist Mathieu van Bellen Maria founded MuziekHaven, a chamber music center located in a historic wooden church in Zaandam (Netherlands) - a place offering residencies to chamber music groups, educational projects and a recording location for small formations. For more info see muziekhaven.com ​

Maria plays on a violin by Michel Angelo Bergonzi (Cremona, ca. 1750), and a Léonard & François Xavier Tourte bow (Paris, ca.1790) on loan from the Dutch Music Instruments Foundation, and holds a teaching position at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

Nathalia Milstein
was born into a musical family in 1995 in France and received her first piano lessons at the age of 4 from her father Serguei Milstein. She went on to study the piano with Nelson Goerner at the Geneva Haute Ecole de Musique, where she completed Bachelor and Master’s degrees with distinction, and with Sir András Schiff at the Barenboim-Saïd Akademie in Berlin.

Nathalia’s international career took off in 2015, when she won 1st Prize at the Dublin International Piano Competition. In 2017 she was also awarded the Young Soloist Prize by the Médias Francophones Publics. She has since been invited to renowned concert venues such as the Cologne Philharmonie, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, the Wigmore Hall in London, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Zankel Hall in New York, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, and the Radio France Auditorium in Paris among others. Moreover, she has joined orchestras such as the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, the Boulez Ensemble, and the Paris and Geneva Chamber Orchestras, working with conductors such as Matthias Pintscher, John Storgårds, Christoph Koncz, and Arie van Beek.

In addition, Nathalia has attended masterclasses and received valuable advice from renowned professors and pianists such as Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Martinez Mehner, Menahem Pressler, Mikhail Voskressensky, Emanuel Krasovsky, Elena Ashkenazy, Jan Wijn or Enrico Pace.

In France, she regularly performs at renowned concert series and with major orchestras. Her recent appearances include concerts with the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Renaud Capuçon, Orchestre de Paris under the direction of Xu Zhong, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under the direction of Anna Rakitina.

At home and abroad she enjoys participating in festivals such as La Roque d'Anthéron, the Heidelberger Frühling, Piano aux Jacobins, Flâneries Musicales de Reims, Grachtenfestival, New Ross Piano Festival, Zaubersee Festival, and Radio France Festival. As part of the “Building Bridges” program curated by Sir András Schiff, Nathalia has gained valuable experience performing in renowned concert venues across Europe.

A keen chamber musician, Nathalia also regularly performs with renowned musicians, joining them at international chamber music events, such as the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, the West Cork Festival in Ireland, Lavaux Classic in Switzerland, or the Schiermonnikoog Festival in the Netherlands.

Her most recent international orchestra highlights include collaborations with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne under the baton of Miguel Pérez Iñesta as well as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under the baton of Jonathan Nott.

Nathalia’s discography is already impressive: supported by the Safran Foundation (Paris) and the Fondation Tempo (Geneva), Nathalia's debut solo CD features works by Prokofiev and Ravel and was released by the French label Mirare in 2018. Her second album, “Visions Fugitives”, was released in September 2021 and was awarded the “Choc Classica” as one of the best recordings of 2021. She also recorded Stravinsky's “Capriccio” with Mikko Franck and the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra as part of an album dedicated to the composer and released by Alpha Classics in September 2022.

Moreover, Nathalia has been playing in a duo with her sister, violinist Maria Milstein, for several years. Together, they have recorded two albums - “La Sonate de Vinteuil” (2017) and “Ravel Voyageur” (2019), both released by Mirare and praised by international critics. In September 2024 they are releasing their third recording, a double album dedicated to the complete works of Schubert for violin and piano. A complete performance of these works live is planned during the French festival La Folle Journée in Nantes in January 2025.

Throughout the 2024/25 season, Nathalia will thus appear as a soloist and chamber music partner in various venues across Europe. Her performances with orchestra will include debuts with the Bremen Philharmoniker conducted by Ulf Schirmer and the Saint Etienne Opera Orchestra conducted by Sasha Yankevych with Schostakovich’s Piano Concerto n.2, a participation in a show around Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Soundwave Collective in several venues in the Netherlands, as well as a Dutch tour with the Phion Orchestra conducted by Bas Wiegers playing the Brahms’s monumental 2nd Concerto.

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