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Mendelssohn: Music For Cello And Piano / Meneses, Wyss
Avie Records

Mendelssohn: Music For Cello And Piano / Meneses, Wyss

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Details

Composer
MENDELSSOHN, FELIX
Artist
Meneses, Wyss
Format
CD
Label
Avie Records
Released
Apr 01, 2008
Catalog #
AV2140
UPC
822252214024

About



MENDELSSOHN Cello Sonatas: in B?, op. 45; in D, op. 58. Variations concertantes, op. 17. Assai tranquillo. Lieder ohne Worte, op.19a/1,3,6 (arr. Piati); op.109 • Antonio Meneses (vc); Gérard Wyss (pn) • AVIE 2140 (72:45)


As Chopin’s works for cello owe their genesis to his association with Franchomme, so Mendelssohn’s pieces were written with specific cellists in mind. The charming and brilliant Variations concertantes (1829) and the First Sonata (1838) were written for the composer’s talented younger brother, Paul. In the interim, Mendelssohn composed the charming albumblatt, known as the Assai tranquillo , as a gift for his Düsseldorf colleague, Julius Rietz. The weightier Second Sonata, from 1843, is dedicated to Count Mateusz Wielhorski, who became a professional cellist on his retirement from the Russian army and eventually an important patron of music in St. Petersburg. Mendelssohn’s last work for cello and piano, the poetic Song without Words , op 109, is dedicated to Lisa Cristiani, one of the few women cellists of the time. Three of the piano solo Songs without Words , transcribed by the cellist Alfredo Piatti, who was much admired by Mendelssohn when they met in London, are interspersed among the original works on this disc.


The distinguished Antonio Meneses—a celebrated soloist and, since 1998, cellist with the Beaux Arts Trio—is a near-ideal interpreter of this important Romantic repertoire. Commanding a rich and varied tonal palette, Meneses approaches Mendelssohn’s essentially lyric expression with poise and equilibrium. This does not mean that passion and drama are given short shrift. In the Scherzo of the D-Major Sonata, the cunning pizzicatos verge on the sinister, only to be dispelled by the flowing cantabile of the trio. During the ensuing Adagio, one of the most beautiful slow movements in Mendelssohn’s chamber music, the cello interrupts the piano’s chorale figure with a series of recitatives. Meneses imbues these passages with a poetic utterance that is disarming in its intensity. His reading of the op. 109 Song without Words is the finest I can remember. Though Gérard Wyss’s piano-playing may lack a certain polish and finesse, his musical instincts are acute, and he remains the sensitive and supportive partner throughout.


Musically speaking, these performances will comfortably take their place alongside other admired readings of the repertoire, including those of Mischa Maisky and Sergio Tiempo (DG 471565) and János Starker and György Sebok (Mercury 434377). The recording, however, made in England in June 2007 at Potton Hall, Suffolk, doesn’t seem to do full justice to Meneses’s wonderful sound. It’s difficult to tell if poor microphone placement or a problematic acoustic space is the culprit, but presence and blend are lackluster. Stephen Pettitt contributed the informative and inviting notes.


FANFARE: Patrick Rucker

Tracklist 13 tracks

  1. 1 Variations concertantes in D Major, Op. 17 08:44
    Track
    1
    Title
    Variations concertantes in D Major, Op. 17
    Duration
    08:44
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  2. 2 Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 1, Op. 19: No. 1 in E Major, Op. 19, No. 1 (arr. for cello and piano) 02:42
    Track
    2
    Title
    Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 1, Op. 19: No. 1 in E Major, Op. 19, No. 1 (arr. for cello and piano)
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  3. 3 I. Allegro vivace 11:24
    Track
    3
    Title
    I. Allegro vivace
    Duration
    11:24
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  4. 4 II. Andante 06:19
    Track
    4
    Title
    II. Andante
    Duration
    06:19
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  5. 5 III. Allegro assai 06:03
    Track
    5
    Title
    III. Allegro assai
    Duration
    06:03
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  6. 6 Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 1, Op. 19: No. 3 in A Major, Op. 19, No. 3, "Jagerlied" (arr. for cello and piano) 02:31
    Track
    6
    Title
    Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 1, Op. 19: No. 3 in A Major, Op. 19, No. 3, "Jagerlied" (arr. for cello and piano)
    Duration
    02:31
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  7. 7 I. Allegro assai vivace 07:29
    Track
    7
    Title
    I. Allegro assai vivace
    Duration
    07:29
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  8. 8 II. Allegretto scherzando 05:26
    Track
    8
    Title
    II. Allegretto scherzando
    Duration
    05:26
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  9. 9 III. Adagio 04:35
    Track
    9
    Title
    III. Adagio
    Duration
    04:35
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  10. 10 IV. Molto allegro e vivace 06:37
    Track
    10
    Title
    IV. Molto allegro e vivace
    Duration
    06:37
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  11. 11 Assai tranquillo 02:28
    Track
    11
    Title
    Assai tranquillo
    Duration
    02:28
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  12. 12 Lied ohne worte, Op. 109 04:30
    Track
    12
    Title
    Lied ohne worte, Op. 109
    Duration
    04:30
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
  13. 13 Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 1, Op. 19: No. 6 in G Minor, Op. 19, No. 6, "Venezianisches Gondellied" (arr. for cello and piano) 03:36
    Track
    13
    Title
    Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 1, Op. 19: No. 6 in G Minor, Op. 19, No. 6, "Venezianisches Gondellied" (arr. for cello and piano)
    Duration
    03:36
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn