Saint-Saëns: Sonate no. 1 & Suite op. 16, Le Cygne

Bertrand, Emmanuelle;
Amoyel, Pascal

HMC 901962

When pianists like Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein or Ferruccio Busoni or violinists like Niccolò Paganini and Joseph Joachim took the concert podium, they could be sure of the cheers of their audience. The cultural history of the 19th century does not know of a similarly popular star on the violoncello. Nevertheless, the stringed instrument with its warm tone was quite popular with the composers of this century.

Beethoven dedicated five sonatas and three variation cycles to the cello. Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata was probably already mostly played on the cello at the time of its creation. The French cellist Auguste Franchomme enjoyed the respect of Chopin, who dedicated his cello sonata to him. And Saint-Saëns himself played with Franchomme when he was still a teenager. Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms have enriched the cello literature with masterpieces, and Brahms' generation mate Saint-Saëns cannot be missing from the list of defenders of this expressive instrument.

In the 20th century, Pablo Casals brought a turning point for the cello: his recording of Bach's six solo suites from the 1930s moved up into the ranks of the legendary records of the 20th century. The spell was broken, and in Pablo Casals' wake, cellists such as Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier, Mstislav Rostropovich and Jacqueline du Pré became record stars. With Jean-Guihen Queyras and Emmanuelle Bertrand, harmonia mundi today has two of the most important representatives of the younger generation in its ranks.

The programmes of the artist couple Emmanuelle Bertrand and Pascal Amoyel are characterised by a weakness for the unusual, as their CDs with music by Reger or Alkan, for example, prove. The latest recording of cello music by Camille Saint-Saëns traces the composer's lifelong preoccupation with the instrument. At the age of 27 he wrote the Suite op. 16, which remained one of his favourite children throughout his life. The line continues through the monumental sonata from 1872, whose premiere by cellist Auguste Tollbeque with Saint-Saëns himself at the piano was a triumphant success, to the late work, to which the world-famous piece The Swan in particular belongs. Saint-Saëns only permitted the separate publication of this piece from the 1886 cycle The Carnival of Animals, which remained unpublished as a whole until his death. The Swan experienced a wide variety of arrangements, but Saint-Saëns insisted on the original version for cello and piano, which in his opinion best depicted the majestic white bird gliding gently on a still lake, spreading its wings.

Works:

• Saint-Saëns: Cello Sonata No. 1 in C minor Op. 32
• Saint-Saëns: Le carnaval des animaux: Le Cygne
• Saint-Saëns: Prière for cello & piano, Op. 158
• Saint-Saëns: Suite for Cello & Piano, Op. 16

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

Harmonia Mundi

28-05-2007

794881835324