Notes and Editorial Reviews
CHOPIN
Cello Sonata. Introduction and Polonaise brillante.
ALKAN
Cello Sonata
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Tatjana Vassiljeva (vc); Jean-Frédéric Neuberger (pn)
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MIRARE 107 (73: 00)
In the Chopin Cello Sonata, Tatjana Vassiljeva and Jean-Frédéric Neuberger are competing against a superstar duo in Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax, who play on a single Sony disc both dramatically and subtly the two Chopin works found here as well as the Chopin Piano Trio.
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The pair here play both chosen Chopin works with all the passion that Ma and Ax bring to the pieces, and perhaps more. They don’t draw back quite as dramatically in the quieter passages. In the first movement of the Sonata, they also play repeats that Ma and Ax do not. They are recorded with more resonance as well. That said, theirs is a totally convincing recording of a fervid work that isn’t heard as much as it might be. The Polonaise seems a lesser work that I think could be played with even more lightness and bounce than I find here.
Despite the urgings of several of my more romantic friends, I have yet to fall in Alkan’s camp. His sonata begins promisingly enough with a pleasing theme played here in a bit of a rush. To my ears, the Adagio is the most pleasing movement in the piece, which despite its classical outlines, seems typically to be pushing toward something I at least can’t perceive. The finale seems strangely driven. It’s this strangeness that other listeners must find particularly attractive, whereas I am drawn to the innocence of the conversations between cello and piano in the slow movement. The only other recording I know is by the Alkan Trio on Naxos. This is the only disc I know that has both the Chopin and Alkan. It is brilliantly played, a find for those who want these pieces.
FANFARE: Michael Ullman
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Works on This Recording
1.
Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, B 160/Op. 65 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Tatjana Vassiljeva (Cello),
Jan Neuberger (Piano),
Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845-1846; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 09/2009
Length: 31 Minutes 18 Secs.
2.
Sonata de concert for Cello and Piano, Op. 47 by Charles Valentin Alkan
Performer:
Jan Neuberger (Piano),
Tatjana Vassiljeva (Cello),
Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1857; France
Date of Recording: 09/2009
Length: 32 Minutes 26 Secs.
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