Six great performances of Beethoven's ‘Kreutzer' Sonata on film

Over the last two weeks we’ve been posting videos of some of the finest performances of Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata available on YouTube. The playlist begins with precious 1926 footage of the Russian violinist Efrem Zimbalist performing the last movement of the sonata with the pianist Harold Bauer, and continues all the way to the present day with performances by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Joshua Bell. In between we hear Nathan Milstein performing with Georges Pludermacher around 1960, a teenage Dylana Jenson in the 1970s and Pinchas Zukerman with pianist Marc Neikrug.

Each performer has their own conception and interpretation of this much-performed and recorded work.

Which is your favourite, and why?

Joshua Bell