Projects

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): 7 Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, WoO 46 [9′]

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Sonata for Piano and Cello in g minor, Op. 65 [34′]

1.  Allegro moderato
2.  Scherzo: Allegro con brio
3.  Largo
4.  Finale: Allegro

Boris Arapov (1905-1992): Sonata for Cello and Piano (1985) [23′]

1.  Sostenuto
2.  Allegro vivo
3.  Moderato assai

Beethoven’s 7 Variations illustrate a literal musical metamorphosis. Taking Mozart’s aria “Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen” from The Magic Flute as its theme, Beethoven demonstrates the infinite possibilities contained within a simple musical “seed.” Each variation offers a new emotional landscape, revealing humour, emotion, and inventiveness while remaining rooted in the original theme. It is fascinating to hear how a composer can grow and transform this seed, revealing a wealth of imagination and expression.

Chopin’s Sonata for Piano and Cello, his last major completed work before death, embodies a personal artistic metamorphosis. Inspired by his familiar musical forms such as nocturnes and polonaises, Chopin pushes the boundaries of his harmonic and contrapuntal language to create an introspective work which becomes a meditation on change and self-reflection.

Arapov’s Sonata presents a cultural and musical metamorphosis, transforming folk melodies through elaborate harmonic complexity. Inspired by the folk music he heard during his extensive travels in Central and Eastern Asia, the work reflects a musical dialogue between cultural traditions. A principal motif develops and changes throughout the piece, illustrating how traditional musical material can be radically reinvented while preserving its fundamental essence.

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Sonata for piano and cello in g minor, Op. 65 [35’]

1. Allegro Moderato
2. Scherzo
3. Largo
4. Finale

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943): Sonata for piano and cello in g minor, Op. 19 [35’]

1. Lento – Allegro moderato
2. Allegro scherzando
3. Andante
4. Allegro mosso – Vivace

Chopin’s Sonata for Piano and Cello, Op. 65, is the final major work he composed before his death and it represents a remarkable artistic metamorphosis, pushing beyond Chopin’s familiar forms of piano miniatures. The piece explores complex contrapuntal writing and an enriched harmonic language, creating a deep emotional landscape. The sonata becomes an intimate meditation on personal transformation while still remaining very Chopin-esque, with moments recalling his typical polonaises, scherzos, and nocturnes.

Rachmaninov’s Sonata Op. 19, composed a few months after his celebrated Second Piano Concerto (Op. 18), draws from the same musical language with beautiful flowing melodies and breathtaking harmonies that characterize his most beloved works. The sonata presents an extraordinary musical conversation between piano and cello, marked by moments of hushed intimacy, intricate interwoven lines, and pianistic virtuosity.

Leoš Janáček (1854-1928): “Pohadka” (1910) [11’]

1.  Con moto – andante
2.  Con moto – adagio
3.  Allegro

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): 7 Variations on Mozart’s theme  “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen”, WoO 46 [10’]

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Sonata in d minor  for cello and piano [11’]

1. Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto
2. Sérénade: Modérément animé
3. Finale: Animé, léger et nerveux

 Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): Malinconia, Op. 20 [12’]

 Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Suite Italienne, from “Pulcinella” [18’]

1. Introduzione
2. Serenata
3. Aria
4. Tarantella
5. Minuetto e Finale

Leoš Janáček’s Pohádka, which tells the story of Tsar Berendey and his trials through lyrical music, is the keystone of this program. The work captures moments of realization and emotional revelation during this story of a tragic promise made by a tsar to an evil sorcerer. Janáček’s music undergoes many transformations, uncovering the hidden layers at the heart of the tale, and musical changes, moving between mystery to clarity, reflect the prince’s discovery of his fate and the story’s continuation—full of love and magic.

In the spirited and humorous variations on Mozart’s Magic Flute, Beethoven takes the famous love duet “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” (of men who feel love), sung by Papageno and Pamina. This duet, at once full of life, humor, and tenderness, celebrates the power and beauty of love. It evokes the connection between characters, highlighting how love brings joy and mutual support, enriching their existence.

Debussy’s Sonata adds its whimsical and mythical charm from the commedia dell’arte, with its subtitle “Pierrot is angry with the moon,” coming to life through fluid and mysterious music.

Sibelius’s Malinconia, inspired by the Finnish epic Kalevala, is a deeply introspective piece where cello and piano express emotions of haunting intensity, evoking a wild and melancholic beauty as well as a dramatic atmosphere.

The playful energy of Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne also draws from the commedia dell’arte through Pulcinella, transforming Pergolesi’s Baroque airs into a series of movements full of humor, wit, and vivacity, captivating listeners with their striking contrasts.

Frank Bridge (1879-1941): Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, H. 125 (1913-1917) [23′]

1.  Allegro ben moderato
2.  Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro moderato

Leoš Janáček (1854-1928): Pohádka (Fairy Tale) (1910) [10′]

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): Malinconia, Op. 20 (1900) [10′]

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 (1843) [24′]

1.  Allegro assai vivace
2.  Allegretto scherzando
3.  Adagio
4.  Molto allegro e vivace

Frank Bridge’s Sonata for Cello and Piano is an underperformed masterpiece, whose rediscovery illuminates a neglected work from the early 20th century. Composed between 1913-1917, a period of personal and global upheaval, this sonata is imbued with great emotional depth, both harmonically adventurous and rooted in late Romantic expressivity. Its revival on stage offers us the opportunity to uncover this hidden gem, which bridges tradition and modernity.

Janáček’s Pohádka, inspired by the fairy tale of Tsar Berendey, tells the story of a tragic promise made by a tsar to an evil sorcerer. The work captures moments of realization and emotional revelation with Janáček’s music undergoing transformations, uncovering the hidden layers at the heart of the tale, and musical changes, moving between mystery to clarity, reflect the prince’s discovery of his fate and the story’s continuation—full of love and magic.

Composed shortly after the death of his infant daughter, Sibelius’ Malinconia reflects the composer’s inner struggle and reconciliation with grief. The melancholic atmosphere that permeates the work evolves by finding one’s way through loss.

Mendelssohn’s rediscovery of Bach’s music lies at the heart of his work, particularly through his famous performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in 1829. His Cello Sonata No. 2, composed several years after this historic revival, embodies this rediscovery of Baroque influence in a Romantic context. In the slow movement, Mendelssohn draws inspiration from Bach’s chorale style. The piano presents the chorale while the cello weaves an aria-like line above, creating a moment of spiritual reflection amid the work’s more dramatic elements, drawing directly from Bach’s cantatas. This movement stands as a tribute to Mendelssohn’s connection with Bach’s musical legacy.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) – Sonata for piano and cello No. 2 in g minor, Op. 5 No. 2 [24’]

1.  Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo – Allegro molto più tosto presto
2. Rondo: Allegro

Samuel Barber (1910–1981) – Cello Sonata, Op. 6 (1932) [19’]

1.  Allegro ma non troppo
2.  Adagio
3.  Allegro appassionato

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) – Sonata for piano and cello in g minor, Op. 19 (1901) [35’]

1.  Lento – Allegro moderato
2.  Allegro scherzando
3.  Andante
4.  Allegro mosso

Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 5 No. 2 marks a pivotal moment in chamber music history, where the cello fully emerges as an equal partner to the piano. This work emerged from the composer’s 1796 visit to Berlin, where he encountered King Friedrich Wilhelm II, himself an accomplished cellist. This work abandons the traditional accompanying role of the cello, instead creating a dynamic interchange between the instruments. The work’s unique structure beginning with a dramatic slow introduction sets the stage for an intense musical discussion, while the spirited Rondo showcases both instruments trading melodic phrases with wit and vigor. Here, we witness the birth of true instrumental dialogue in the Classical style.

Composed while he was still a student at the Curtis Institute, Samuel Barber’s Cello Sonata demonstrates his gift for combining a new American style with European formal traditions. The work presents an intimate conversation between the instruments, with the cello’s singing qualities matched by the piano’s rich harmonies. The central Adagio movement is particularly striking, featuring a personal exchange that showcases Barber’s melodic genius. Throughout the piece, the dialogue shifts between passionate discourse and tender whispers, culminating in the emotionally charged finale.

True to his style, the piano part of Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Piano and Cello is monumentally challenging, written just months after his famous Second Piano Concerto, yet never overshadows its partner. Instead, we hear a sublime partnership where both instruments weave together in waves of increasing emotional intensity. The sonata presents an extraordinary musical conversation between piano and cello, marked by moments of hushed intimacy, intricate interwoven lines, and pianistic virtuosity.

Frank Bridge (1879-1941): Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, H. 125 (1913-1917) [23′]

1.  Allegro ben moderato
2.  Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro moderato

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): La Valse, for solo piano [11′]

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Suite No. 1 in G Major for Solo Cello, BWV 1007 [15′]

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924): Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 2 in g minor, Op. 117 [19′]

1.  Allegro
2.  Andante
3.  Allegro vivo

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Suite italienne after Pulcinella, for cello and piano [18′]

1.  Introduzione
2.  Serenata
3.  Aria
4.  Tarantella
5.  Minuetto e Finale

Composed between 1913 and 1917, Frank Bridge’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, stands at the crossroads of two worlds: one of pastoral innocence and one of dreams turned to ashes in the War. Though not mobilized, Bridge was tormented by the war’s senselessness. This anguish is particularly evident in the second movement, where the piano motifs evoke an icy rain, already prefiguring his later style. The work oscillates between Brahmsian nobility and unique freshness before concluding in an atmosphere of uncertainty characteristic of this transitional period.

Initially conceived as a tribute to the Viennese waltz, Ravel’s La Valse was profoundly transformed by the composer’s traumatic experience during the Great War. Ravel, marked by his service as an ambulance driver during the conflict, composed a work both sumptuous and unsettling, where the splendor of a bygone world spirals downwards into a dizzying whirlwind. This piece evokes the collapse of an era while glimpsing a possibility of rebirth.

Bach’s first Suite for Solo Cello rises here as a symbol of universality, innocence, and peace. Pablo Casals, who brought these suites onto the stage as concert works and notably played them during his exile from fascist Spain, made them an emblem of peace and humanity transcending conflict.

Fauré’s Cello Sonata No. 2 was completed in 1921. Its slow movement, originally commissioned for Napoleon’s death centenary,goes beyond its initial purpose: Fauré transforms it into a funeral march dedicated to all soldiers fallen on the battlefield. This development from personal project to universal tribute reflects the spirit of the time, where personal mourning becomes collective. The entire work dialogues between memory and renewal, symbolizing the quest for reconstruction that marked post-war Europe.

Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, an arrangement for cello and piano of excerpts from the ballet Pulcinella (1919), demonstrates a new artistic approach born from the conflict’s ashes. By reinterpreting themes by Pergolesi, an 18th-century Italian composer, through a modern language, Stravinsky offers a synthesis between tradition and innovation, reflecting Europe’s aspirations for cultural reconstruction.

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 119 [24’]

1. Andante grave
2. Moderato
3. Allegro ma non troppo

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): Sonata for Cello and Piano, FP 143 [24’]

1. Allegro – Tempo di Marcia
2. Cavatine
3. Ballabile
4. Finale

Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950): Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano in a minor, Op. 81 [23’]

1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante cantabile
3. Allegro con spirito

The year 1948 stands as a pivotal moment in Soviet musical history, marked by the notorious Zhdanov Decree. This Communist Party resolution denounced many leading Soviet composers, including singling out Prokofiev and Myaskovsky, for “formalist tendencies” – essentially, for writing music deemed too complex and insufficiently accessible to the masses.

Composed the year after this Decree, this sonata represents Prokofiev’s attempt to write in a more “accessible” style while maintaining his artistic integrity. Despite the oppressive cultural climate, Prokofiev created a work of remarkable warmth and lyricism, with extremely long phrases and singing melodies. The playful second movement and energetic finale retain his characteristic wit, though perhaps with more restraint than his earlier works. We can hear typical Prokofiev melodies and themes reminiscent of his ballets Cinderella or Romeo and Juliet.

In 1948, Poulenc was working in the relative artistic freedom of post-war France, however as this sonata was sketched before the German Occupation and summarily abandoned during, Poulenc was no stranger to oppression. Openly homosexual, Poulenc and his music were deemed degenerate and during the Occupation, he was at the forefront of artistic resistance movements in France. This sonata showcases Poulenc’s distinctive mix of neoclassical clarity and cabaret-inspired cheekiness. The work’s four movements are constantly changing character, full of humour, from martial to melancholic, with the touching Cavatine serving as its emotional heart.

Myaskovsky, like Prokofiev, was specifically named in the Zhdanov Decree. This sonata, written immediately afterward, represents both compliance and subtle resistance. While its language is more traditionally romantic than his earlier works, it maintains a depth of expression and masterful craftsmanship that transcends political dictates. The work’s melancholic character, particularly in its soulful second movement, might be read as a response to the artistic restrictions of the time.

Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) – Sonatina for Cello and Piano (1909) [9’]

Sulkhan Tsintsadze (1925–1991) – Five Pieces on Georgian Folk Songs (1950) [13’]

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) – Malinconia, Op. 20 (1900) [12’]

Tolib Shakhidi (b. 1946) – Adagio for Solo Cello (2008)  [7’]

Béla Bartok (1881-1945) – Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs for Solo Piano, Op. 20 [11’]

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959) – The Song of the Black Swan (1917) [4’]

Boris Arapov (1905-1992): Sonata for Cello and Piano (1985) [23′]

1.  Sostenuto
2.  Allegro vivo
3.  Moderato assai

Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992) – Le Grand Tango (1982) [12’]

A fervent champion of Hungarian folk music, Zoltán Kodály infused his compositions with the rhythmic vitality and modal colors of his homeland. His Sonatina for Cello and Piano, composed in 1909, reflects his early mastery of lyrical expression and folk-inflected harmonies. While it remains less frequently performed than his later works, it offers a glimpse into the composer’s evolving style—imbued with rhapsodic gestures and a strong connection to the folk idioms that would define his mature voice.

Georgian composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze was also immersed in the musical traditions of his country, blending the expressive ornamentation of Georgian song with the formal clarity of Western classical structures. These five songs distill the essence of Georgia’s ancient melodies. Each miniature is a vignette of folk life—wistful lullabies, dances, and the haunting calls of a people whose musical heritage stretches back millennia.

Sibelius’s Malinconia is an intensely personal work, written in the wake of the tragic loss of his infant daughter, unfolding in a single whirlwind of a movement. It juxtaposes restless turbulence with moments of fragile lyricism, embodying the Nordic melancholy so central to Sibelius’s artistic voice.

The music of Tajik composer Tolib Shakhidi bridges Eastern and Western traditions, blending the ornamented phrasing of Tajik classical music with the evocative textures of the European concert tradition. His Adagio for Solo Cello, composed in 2008, is a meditation on time and memory, dedicated to his composition professor Aram Khachaturian. Its expansive phrases are suspended in the almost mystical stillness of the solo cello.

Bartók’s Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, written in 1920, represent a radical approach to folk material. Rather than straightforward arrangements, these pieces fragment and reconfigure traditional melodies into highly original harmonic and rhythmic settings. The piano’s percussive energy and shifting meters reflect Bartók’s lifelong fascination with the asymmetry and raw expressiveness of Hungarian peasant music.

A composer whose music embodies the spirit of Brazil, Heitor Villa-Lobos was influenced by the natural world. The Song of the Black Swan is an ethereal, hauntingly lyrical depiction of the legendary black swan, whose mournful song, according to myth, signals its final moments before death.

A lesser-known yet striking voice in Soviet-era music, Boris Arapov’s late Sonata for Cello and Piano exemplifies his bold harmonic language and structural ingenuity, drawing on his extensive travels through Central and East Asia. The opening Sostenuto unfolds with brooding intensity, its spacious sonorities evoking a vast and desolate landscape. The Allegro vivo follows with relentless rhythmic drive and biting dissonances, propelling the sonata into dramatic turbulence. Finally, the Moderato assai offers a reflective contrast, where searching melodies dissolve into haunting silence.

Astor Piazzolla’s Le Grand Tango offers a burst of rhythmic fire and sensual lyricism, encapsulating the dynamism of Piazzolla’s nuevo tango style—a fusion of tradition and modernity, where the echoes of Buenos Aires resonate through every phrase.

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) – Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 (1843) [24’]

1.  Allegro assai vivace
2.  Allegretto scherzando
3.  Adagio
4.  Molto allegro e vivace

Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998) – Suite in the Old Style (1972) [12’]

1.  Pastorale
2.  Ballet
3.  Minuet
4.  Fugue
5.  Pantomime

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) – Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord No. 3 in g minor, BWV 1029 [14’]

1.  Vivace
2.  Adagio
3.  Allegro

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) – Suite Italienne (1932) [18’]

1.  Introduzione
2.  Serenata
3.  Aria
4.  Tarantella
5.  Minuetto e Finale

Mendelssohn’s rediscovery of Bach’s music lies at the heart of his work, particularly through his famous performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in 1829. His Cello Sonata No. 2, composed several years after this historic revival, embodies this rediscovery of Baroque influence in a Romantic context. In the slow movement, Mendelssohn draws inspiration from Bach’s chorale style. The piano presents the chorale while the cello weaves an aria-like line above, creating a moment of spiritual reflection amid the work’s more dramatic elements, drawing directly from Bach’s cantatas. This movement stands as a tribute to Mendelssohn’s connection with Bach’s musical legacy.

Alfred Schnittke’s Suite in the Old Style is a modern composer’s playful reimagining of Baroque and early Classical dance forms. Composed in 1972, the suite evokes the spirit of Bach, Handel, and Mozart, yet its neoclassical elegance is tinged with the irony and subtle harmonic surprises characteristic of Schnittke’s polystylistic approach. It is infused with an 18th-century charm, showcasing Schnittke’s admiration for Baroque structures, albeit with a knowing modern touch — seemingly a lost vignette from a bygone era.

Bach’s Sonata No. 3 for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord is a masterpiece of contrapuntal dialogue, demonstrating the remarkable fluidity with which he could weave together independent musical voices. Originally written for the viola da gamba and harpsichord,  instruments closely associated with the Baroque era, this sonata has since become a cornerstone of the cello/piano duo repertoire.

Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, an arrangement for cello and piano of excerpts from the ballet Pulcinella (1919), demonstrates a new artistic approach born from the conflict’s ashes. By reinterpreting themes by Pergolesi, an 18th-century Italian composer, through a modern language, Stravinsky offers a synthesis between tradition and innovation.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Sonata in d minor  for cello and piano [12’]

1. Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto
2. Sérénade: Modérément animé
3. Finale: Animé, léger et nerveux

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Sonata for Piano and Cello in g minor, Op. 65 [34′]

1.  Allegro moderato
2.  Scherzo: Allegro con brio
3.  Largo
4.  Finale: Allegro

Dmitri Shostakovitch (1906-1975): Sonata for Viola and Piano (arr. cello and piano), Op. 147 [31’]

1. Allegro
2. Moderato
3. Adagio

Debussy’s Sonata in d minor for cello and piano emerged during a period of extraordinary personal and historical turbulence. As World War I raged and the composer battled terminal cancer, he embarked on an ambitious project of six sonatas, though he would complete only three before his death. During this period, Debussy remarked that he was “relearning about music,” and indeed, the Cello Sonata reveals a striking departure from his earlier style. He wrote about the sonata that it is “almost classical form in the best sense of the word.” The work draws its whimsical and mythical charm from the commedia dell’arte, with its subtitle “Pierrot is angry with the moon” coming to life through flowing and mysterious music.

Chopin’s Sonata for Piano and Cello also represents remarkable artistic metamorphosis, pushing beyond his familiar forms of piano miniatures. The work is full of complex harmonies, intricate counterpoint, and moments of both turbulent passion and profound introspection. Despite his failing health, Chopin created a masterwork that explores complex contrapuntal writing and an enriched harmonic language, creating a deep emotional landscape. The sonata becomes an intimate meditation on personal transformation while remaining quintessentially Chopin-esque, with moments recalling his characteristic polonaises, scherzos, and nocturnes.

Arranged for cello by Daniil Shafran with permission from Shostakovitch’s widow,  the Sonata for Viola and Piano, was Shostakovich’s final completed composition, finished just weeks before his death in 1975. Written in the shadow of severe illness, this austere and  personal work seems to contemplate mortality itself. The first movement’s wandering melodies give way to a sardonic scherzo quoting directly from his unfinished opera based on Gogol’s The Gamblers, while the final Adagio draws inspiration from Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, creating a haunting meditation that seems to fade into silence. The last phrase of the cello is also a quotation from the finale of Strauss’ Don Quixote when the cellist, representing the titular character, takes his final breath.