Jaffe

Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms were bound together for four decades by a great artistic friendship. They shared a common interest and exchanged ideas on a personal and artistic level. The violinist Sophia Jaffé and the pianist Björn Lehmann have been duo partners for many years and are now putting all their experience and love for Brahms and Schumann into a new GENUIN CD. The program includes the three violin sonatas by Johannes Brahms and three violin romances by Clara Schumann – conceivably different works in their scope, yet related in their view of the world and art: romantic treasures, recorded with dedication!

Four years ago, just after the birth of their first daughter, Sheila Jaffé’s husband, pianist Peter Longworth, passed away. This album is a deeply personal reflection on the experience of grief that followed. The Franck sonata was a regular in Sheila’s home - and Sheila and Peter played it together in lieu of a ‘first dance’ at their wedding. Recording at Potton Hall in Suffolk, with the Welsh pianist Huw Watkins, the album includes Benjamin Britten’s Lachrymae (recorded after a field trip to the Britten library at the Red House and fish and chips on the Aldeburgh coast) and concludes with Elgar’s vast and expressive Sonata for Violin and Piano.