MENDELSSOHN: Cello Sonata No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 45; Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58; Variations concertantes in D Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 17; Lied ohne Worte in D Major, Op. 109 – Jan Vogler, cello/Louis Lortie, piano
Berlin Classics 01115182BC, 54:47 [Distr. by Allegro] ****:
A reissue of stunning recordings Jan Vogler made 27-29 October 2002, this set captures his art upon the 1712 Guarnerius when Vogler was relatively new to the soloist circuit. Vogler and Lortie play Mendelssohn’s fluid Variations concertantes (1829), a lovely work by the twenty-year-old composer for his brother Paul, an accomplished cellist. A theme, eight variations and coda allow for a series of plastic articulations across the range of the instrument, alternately plucking and bowing the strings in response to bold, detached chords from the keyboard. The style often imitates that of Beethoven, especially in that composer’s handling of tunes from Mozart. The Presto ed agitato variant, No. 7, has both players moving in vigorous figures, with a held note as a segue to the transparent restatement (No. 8) of the main theme, now expanded to embrace a lovely coda, arioso, trilled and pointed in collaboration with a limpid piano for a restful conclusion.
The Sonata No. 1 (1838) moves passionately in sonata form with an elastic energy reminiscent of the D Minor Piano Concerto, Op. 40. The runs of the keyboard blend into the arched aria in the cello, though the affect remains one of sturm und drang in hectic or resolute figures. The piano part becomes quite virtuosic, especially as Lortie has made of himself something of a Mendelssohn acolyte. The two instruments engage in some canonic passages, then concertante playing that assumes martial symphonic dimensions. The onrush of cascading continues almost unbroken to the last page, with another surge to the final measure. The Andante appears disingenuous after such thick textures in the first movement, but the music moves straightforwardly to the charming melody mid-way that has Vogler singing a lovely tenor reminiscent of Beethoven’s Septet. Typically, the Allegro assai presents a flowing song without words, a rich anticipation of the Op. 109 (1845) that concludes this fine disc. The secondary, jaunty tune, has the earmarks of the concerto writing for piano, assured and colorfully textured.
The D Major Sonata No. 2 (1842) has provided a staple for cello virtuosi since its inception, and the litany of cellists who have recorded it give Vogler cause to exert his youthful prowess to the utmost. Scholars attribute the shape of the piece to the influence of Beethoven’s sonatas from Op. 102. Often, the equality of texture takes on a “trio’ quality, given the rich writing for the both hands on the piano, the 16th notes blazing beneath a plaintive cello line. The virtuosic use of pizzicato marks the second movement, Allegretto scherzando, which exploits Mendelssohn’s sound of an ardent cello melody over a palpitating keyboard. The Adagio, a combination of chorale and recitative, borrows arpeggiated and chord impulses from Bach’s St. John Passion, particularly “Es ist vollbracht.” The cello subdues the keyboard with its own piety. The last movement evinces a sense of the polished etude for both instruments, running and exulting in the bouncy manner of the piano concertos’ finales. The outlines of the melody evoke the D Minor Piano Trio, Op. 49 and the Spinning Song at once. Vogler and Lortie slice effortlessly through anything like musical hurdles, and the effect is that of charmed delight in unfettered virtuosity relished for its own sake.
–Gary Lemco
