While Beethoven’s output of chamber music for the cello is modest, the five sonatas heard here fit neatly into the three-period timeline of Beethoven’s development. The opus 5 sonatas written in 1796 are from the composer’s early period, reflecting Haydn’s influence, while the third sonata was completed in 1808, towards the end of the ‘heroic’ middle period. The final op. 102 sonatas were mostly composed in the summer of 1815, during the composer’s last period. This double album, therefore, offers a concentrated opportunity to appreciate Beethoven’s maturing compositional style.
The fascinating liner notes point out that when Beethoven began work on the opus 5 sonatas, there were few, if any, cello sonatas, in large part because the cello was still seen as part of the continuo. Earlier sonatas usually had the cello double the left hand of the piano as the pianist’s right hand played obbligato passagework. So, the Opus 5 sonatas, with fully independent cello parts, were progressive and revolutionary.
It seemed important to note this because these performances have a sense of energy and exploration that seemed rooted in their newness. Weilerstein and Barnatan clearly relish the Haydnesque playfulness of the F Major sonata, and every technical challenge is easily dispatched. But there is a notable joy-de vivre and improvisatory freedom in these readings that recognize and celebrate the newness of Beethoven’s creation. Weilerstein’s nuanced bowing and vibrato, as well as the ever-expanding palette of colors and articulation from both players also gives the listener a strong sense of the composer’s compositional growth.
These two have performed the complete sonatas together several times and there is a palpable sense of familiarity and intimacy between them. Time and again I was taken with the natural gift and take of these readings. Just sample the opening phrases of that first F Major sonata and listen to how Barnatan quickly slips into the background, allowing Weilerstein to ardently sing the melody, and then how the roles effortlessly switch and the beginning of the Allegro. In the G Minor sonata both Weilerstein and Barnatan employ darker shades of color, establishing a greater seriousness and more forlorn atmosphere.
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The A Major Sonata is the first in which cello and piano are equal partners. Its mood is more serious, with a greater sense of struggle. The first movement’s exposition is strikingly handled, as the cello and piano pass the melody back and forth each time adding their own elaborations. Both players reveal every nuance of the writing, emotional without ever veering into exaggerated Romantic style. Listen to the ferocity Weilerstein brings to the writing at 7’35” into the first movement, and how perfectly both artists then manage the quicksilver mood change 30 seconds later. They find an angry defiance in the Scherzo and an aching lyricism and melancholy in the opening of the final movement.
The same attention to detail and atmosphere is heard in the opening Adagio of the fourth sonata, surely this is the composer expressing the yearning and isolation he felt once he had become completely deaf. And how deftly they handle the constant wavering between joy and sadness that characterizes the final minutes of the final movement.
Tempo choices throughout the cycle seem exactly right, and that is especially true in the final sonata’s slow movement. At 9’24”, Weilerstein and Barnatan maintain a special intensity and concentration throughout, whereas the slower performance of Daniel Müller-Schott and Angela Hewitt (Hyperion) there are moments when one loses the sense of long line. And again, the colors they conjure create such a potent and touching atmosphere, making it hard to move on to the closing Allegro, which is performed with infectious energy and great finesse.
Pentatone’s recording is fabulous: clear and resonant, the two instruments beautifully balanced. The liner notes are exceptional, with introductory notes by both artists, truly honoring the sense of equal artistic collaboration between the two. In addition, the erudite notes by Jason Stell are a model of their kind, a perfect balance of objective and subjective information. I only wish they would have included at least one of the three sets of variations Beethoven wrote for cello and piano. But this is a small complaint in the face of such excellent music making.
Beethoven – Cello Sonatas
Alisa Weilerstein – Piano
Inon Barnatan – Piano
Pentatone, CD PTC5186884
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