BEETHOVEN: VIOLIN SONATAS NOS. 1-4, No. 9....

BEETHOVEN: VIOLIN SONATAS NOS. 1-4, No. 9. Isaac Stern, violin; Eugene Istomin, piano. CBS Masterworks I2M 39680 (two records) (digital). Even though the earlier sonatas and the later “Kreutzer” date from different decades and different eras, Stern and Istomin acknowledge little stylistic development. The Opus 12 sonatas receive sober, regimented, glib readings devoid of shading, while the illustrious duo defuses Opus 23 of its insinuating gallantry. The intense “Kreutzer” finds them at their interpretive peak, but Stern tends to miss some notes and to slide into others. Oppressively close, airless recording.