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cello sonata Archive

Cello Sonatas by CHOPIN; SCHUMANN; GRIEG – Inbal Segev, cello/ Juho Pohjonen, piano – Avie 

Cello Sonatas by CHOPIN; SCHUMANN; GRIEG – Inbal Segev, cello/ Juho Pohjonen, piano – Avie 

by | Jul 28, 2018 | Classical CD Reviews

A truly elegant “hour” of Romantic cello music comes to us via two instrumentalists in spirited kinship. CHOPIN: Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65; SCHUMANN: 3 Fantasiestuecke, Op. 73; GRIEG: Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 – Inbal Segev, cello/ Juho Pohjonen, piano – Avie AV2389, 70:13 (7/20/18) [Distr. by Naxos] *****: This recital (rec. 4-6 October 2017), which represents the debut of cellist Inbal Segev on the Avie label, would seem to extend a career as meaningful as those of contemporaries Natalia Gutman, Sol Gabetta, Alisa Weilerstein, and the great precursor Zara Nelsova.  The blazing sonority of Segev’s 1673 Ruggieri instrument, particularly as employed in the stunning Cello Sonata in A minor by Edvard Grieg, will electrify auditors from the outset, especially given the equally alluring keyboard collaboration from the Finnish virtuoso Juho Pohjonen (b. 1981), whose work at the Music@Menlo Festival I have followed with some dedication. Segev and Pohjonen open with Chopin’s 1846 Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65, created for the admired August Franchomme (1808-1884).   After the piano, Chopin most revered the cello, and of his five concerted works, three are for that instrument. Chopin and Franchomme performed the piece together as […]

To Brahms, With Love = BRAHMS: Cello Sonatas – Amit Peled, cello/ Noreen Polera, piano – CAP Records

To Brahms, With Love = BRAHMS: Cello Sonatas – Amit Peled, cello/ Noreen Polera, piano – CAP Records

by | Jun 12, 2018 | Classical CD Reviews

To Brahms, With Love = BRAHMS: Cello Sonatas – Amit Peled, cello/ Noreen Polera, piano – CAP Records Amit Peled applies his cherished Casals cello in the service of the two Brahms sonatas. To Brahms, With Love = BRAHMS: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38; Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99 – Amit Peled, cello/ Noreen Polera, piano – CAP Records 016-1, 56:57 (6/1/18) [www.caprecords.org] ****: Amit Peled extends his love affair with Pablo Casals’ 1733 Matteo Gofriller instrument (rec. 19-21 June 2017) by applying its luxurious sonority to the two Brahms cello sonatas, from 1865 and 1886, respectively.  Perhaps in deference to his revered Beethoven, Brahms created his first sonata for two different instruments for the cello, much as Beethoven had exerted his first efforts on a duo sonata to his Op. 5 pair of cello sonatas.  Brahms found instrumental inspiration in the playing of cellist Robert Hausmann. For the E minor Sonata, Brahms chose a theme taken from Bach’s The Art of Fugue—the Contrapunctus XIII—for his third movement Allegro, combining its three-voice, contrapuntal potential with sonata-allegro form. The opening movement, Allegro non troppo, exploits the cello’s low register to great effect. As […]

BRAHMS: Cello Sonatas ‒ Brian Thornton, cello / Spencer Myer, piano ‒ Steinway & Sons

BRAHMS: Cello Sonatas ‒ Brian Thornton, cello / Spencer Myer, piano ‒ Steinway & Sons

by | Aug 16, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

BRAHMS: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38; Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99 ‒ Brian Thornton, cello / Spencer Myer, piano ‒ Steinway & Sons 30081, 55:29 (6/16/17) ****  If you like your Brahms with drive and interpretive forthrightness. . . . While the First Sonata leaves me a bit cold, the Second Sonata is far and away my favorite Brahms sonata and probably my favorite cello sonata period. In a way, the two works are mirror images of each other. Sonata No. 1 was the first sonata that Brahms wrote for piano and another instrument. Originally, it was supposed to have four movements just like Sonata No. 2, but somewhere along the line Brahms decided to scrap the slow movement; the piece ended up with three more-or-less fast movements. Some scholars believe that the projected slow movement was not scrapped at all but became the second movement of Sonata No. 2 written more than twenty years later. The First Sonata begins with a rather lugubrious theme played in the cello’s lowest register; in contrast, the Second Sonata starts impetuously, with churning tremolos in the piano, over which the cello rises to its very […]

SHOSTAKOVICH plays SHOSTAKOVICH: 2 Piano Concertos; Concertino, Piano Quintet; Cello Sonata & others – Shostakovich & others – Praga Digitals

SHOSTAKOVICH plays SHOSTAKOVICH: 2 Piano Concertos; Concertino, Piano Quintet; Cello Sonata & others – Shostakovich & others – Praga Digitals

by | Nov 19, 2016 | Classical Reissue Reviews

Praga collects a generous portion of the Dmitry Shostakovich legacy in his pianist capacity, working with gifted friends. SHOSTAKOVICH plays SHOSTAKOVICH: From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op. 79; Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102; Piano Concerto No. 1 in c minor, Op. 35; Concertino for 2 Pianos in a minor, Op. 94; Piano Quintet in G Major, Op. 57; Cello Sonata in d minor, Op. 40; 4 Preludes for Piano, Op. 34 (arr. violin and piano); 3 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 – Dmitry Shostakovich, p./ Dmitry Tsyganov, v./ Mstislav Rostropovich, cello/ Maxim Shostakovich, p./ Beethoven String Q./ Nina L’Volvna Dorliak, sop./ Zara Dolukhanova, mezzo-sop./ Alexei Maslennikov, tenor/ Moscow Radio Sym. Orch./ Alexander Gauk/ Moscow Philharmonic Orch./ Samuel Samosud – Praga Digitals PRD 250 365.66 (2 CDs), 69:04, 73:06  (11/4/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] *****: In the interest of “authenticity,” few collections can compete with these assembled recordings by Dmitry Shostakovich, 1955 and 1957, in which he appears in his most famous instrumental guise, at the keyboard. As a human being, Shostakovich harbored sympathies for the oppressed Jewish populations of both Nazi and Soviet regimes, and his 1948 cycle of eleven songs From Jewish Poetry (15 January 1955) […]

DEBUSSY: Violin Sonata in g; Cello Sonata in d; Flute, Viola, and Harp Sonata; Syrinx for Solo Flute – Boston Sym. Ch. Players – Pentatone

DEBUSSY: Violin Sonata in g; Cello Sonata in d; Flute, Viola, and Harp Sonata; Syrinx for Solo Flute – Boston Sym. Ch. Players – Pentatone

by | Mar 12, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

An outstanding release wonderfully brought back to life. DEBUSSY: Violin Sonata in g; Cello Sonata in d; Flute, Viola, and Harp Sonata; Syrinx for Solo Flute – Boston Sym. Ch. Players – Pentatone multichannel SACD (4.0) PTC 5186 226, 46:11 [Distr. by Naxos] *****: For those of you who don’t remember, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, one of the greatest groups of its time, consisted of (for this disc) Joseph Silverstein, violin; Jules Eskin, cello; Michael Tilson Thomas, piano; Doriot Anthony Dwyer, flute; Burton Fine, viola; and Ann Hobson, harp. Especially interesting is the fact of all the trouble Tilson Thomas was supposedly having with the symphony members—who were not liking him much, according to some sources—yet the recordings he made with them during the start of his career, were nothing less than sensational, several now considered staples of the recorded legacy and even desert island discs. This translated into his work with the Chamber Players too. Tilson Thomas, an outstanding pianist, hooked up with the folks on this recording to make a go at repertory that was always second nature to the BSO. Its moniker “The Aristocrat of Orchestras” indicated a certain suavity and high natured tonal luster that […]

BEETHOVEN: Complete works for violoncello and piano – [Tracklist follows] – Steven Isserlis, cello/ Robert Levin, fortepiano – Hyperion (2 discs): BEETHOVEN: Complete works for violoncello and piano – [TrackList follows] – Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello/ Alexander Melinkov, piano – Harmonia mundi (2 discs):

BEETHOVEN: Complete works for violoncello and piano – [Tracklist follows] – Steven Isserlis, cello/ Robert Levin, fortepiano – Hyperion (2 discs): BEETHOVEN: Complete works for violoncello and piano – [TrackList follows] – Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello/ Alexander Melinkov, piano – Harmonia mundi (2 discs):

by | Dec 3, 2014 | Classical CD Reviews

By any and all standards, the Isserlis/Levin disc is a very special release. Queyras and Melnikov, using a modern piano, offer fine readings as well but aren’t in quite the same league.

BEETHOVEN: Complete works for violoncello and piano – [Tracklist follows] – Steven Isserlis, cello/ Robert Levin, fortepiano – Hyperion (2 discs): BEETHOVEN: Complete works for violoncello and piano – [TrackList follows] – Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello/ Alexander Melinkov, piano – Harmonia mundi (2 discs):

BEETHOVEN: Complete works for violoncello and piano – [Tracklist follows] – Steven Isserlis, cello/ Robert Levin, fortepiano – Hyperion (2 discs):
BEETHOVEN: Complete works for violoncello and piano – [TrackList follows] – Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello/ Alexander Melinkov, piano – Harmonia mundi (2 discs):

by | Dec 3, 2014 | Classical CD Reviews

By any and all standards, the Isserlis/Levin disc is a very special release. Queyras and Melnikov, using a modern piano, offer fine readings as well but aren’t in quite the same league.