Top flight Beethoven from this cello and piano duo
Michael Church admires the first-rate teamwork of Leonard Elschenbroich and Alexei Grynyuk
Beethoven
Cello Sonatas: No. 1 in F, and No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5; No. 3 in A, Op 69; No. 4 in C, and No. 5 in D, Op. 102; Cello Sonata in F, Op. 17
(arr. Horn Sonata)
Leonard Elschenbroich (cello), Alexei Grynyuk (piano) Onyx ONYX 4196 125:59 mins (2 discs)
The unusual element in this programme is the inclusion of the Sonata in F major, Op. 17, which was originally written to be played by the Czech horn player Giovanni Punto whose unrivalled technique – and ability to play chords – made him a celebrity. It’s not known for sure whether Beethoven himself made the cello arrangement, but he certainly authorised it. The result is a minor work whose opening Allegro feels a bit routine, but whose Adagio shows the composer at his most idiosyncratic, and one can sense the horn as a ghostly presence behind the cello.
The rest of this disc is outstanding. With these five works Beethoven created the cello sonata as an art form, and the way Leonard Elschenbroich makes his entry in the first – emerging tentatively from the shadows – underlines the significance of that moment. Alexei Grynyuk – a fine pianist whom we don’t hear often enough as a soloist – handles his part in the Allegro with delicacy and flexibility, and his articulation throughout this recording is pellucid even at top speed. Beethoven’s description of the Op. 5 sonatas as ‘for piano and cello’ reflects his revelling in his own virtuosity, and they are also evidence of his early mastery of Adagio forms.
Pianist and cellist generate both mystery and a high degree of intensity in the middle-period Op. 69 Sonata, and they bring unanswerable authority to the final pair, in which the music’s profundity deepens as its brevity increases. The C major Sonata, with its alternating rumination and impulsiveness, comes over like a fantasia; the final Sonata has oracular power.
PERFORMANCE ★★★★★
RECORDING ★★★★
Pianist and cellist generate mystery and intensity in Beethoven
Hear extracts from this recording and the rest of this month’s choices on the BBC Music Magazine website at www.classical-music.com