Yesterday evening, Mannes faculty members Timothy Eddy and Gilbert Kalish appeared together to perform a program of cello sonatas. The two have given annual recitals at the Concert Hall for quite some time, and this one was even more special than most as it was the last to be held there. (The building has already been sold, and the school will be moving at the end of the next semester.) The program included works by Beethoven, Debussy, Mendelssohn and Sheila Silver.
The evening began with Beethoven's Seven Variations on Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, WoO 46 (1801). Early in his career, Beethoven was fond of composing sets of variations on tunes that were popular at the moment. These particular ones were written after Mozart's Die Zauberflöte had been staged to great acclaim at the Vienna Hoftheater early that same year. Beethoven, who himself was later to struggle with mastery of the operatic form, had already become familiar with Mozart's operas while still a member of the Bonn Opera orchestra and had greatly admired, if not envied, the late composer's ability in this genre. These variations were brief, about ten minutes in all, and were lively and pleasant to hear. The cello and piano worked very well together in rendering the duet between Pamina and Papageno.
The next work was Sonata for Cello and Piano (1988) by Sheila Silver, a contemporary composer whose work I had never before heard. The work had actually been written for these two performers; and, before commencing, they each spoke a few words about the sonata and their friendship with the composer whom they had first met years before at Stonybrook. They noted that aside from playing many of Silver's works in recital they had also recorded a number of them. The sonata was a full blown piece of great complexity; it consisted of three long movements, the most interesting of which was the Theme and Variations, and altogether ran about 45 minutes in length. The composer herself was present and came onstage at the work's conclusion to take a bow.
This was followed by Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915). The work was one of three sonatas from a projected series of six that Debussy composed toward the end of his life. World War I was then raging throughout Europe, and Debussy's intent had been to produce music of a strong national character - the influence of Couperin can be heard throughout - to compete in importance with the works of German composers such as Wagner. Debussy was certainly successful to the extent that this work, despite its brevity, has become over the years one of the mainstays of the genre. The cello part of this three movement sonata is technically demanding and so presents a challenge to even the most talented performer.
After intermission, the program closed with Mendelssohn's Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 2 in D major, Op. 58 (1843). Mendelssohn, of course, is one of the nineteenth century's greatest composers of chamber works, and this piece is a fine example of his skill. It was originally written for Count Mateusz Wielhorski, an advanced amateur who not only owned a Stradivarius but was also the dedicatee of Schumann’s Piano Quartet. Influences of Mendelssohn's other works can easily be seen in this sonata. This is especially true of the second movement where can be discerned traces of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on whose composition Mendelssohn was then also working. In general, the sonata is a bright exuberant piece that allows for a great range of interaction between the two instrumentalists.
The encore was the lovely second movement cavatine from the Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, FP 143 (1948) by Francis Poulenc.
Both performers are among the very best practitioners on their respective instruments, and I considered it a privilege to have been able to hear them play together. There was a full house at yesterday's recital, and the rest of the audience was as appreciative as I was. They gave the duo a huge and well deserved round of applause at the conclusion of the performance.
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