Sunday Clas­sics: A Jour­ney Across Europe

Programme

Luigi Boccherini: Sonata in G Major, G. 15
with Steiney Sigurðardóttir, cello

Robert Schumann: Adagio & Allegro, Op. 70

Claude Debussy: Sonata for cello and piano in D Minor

-Intermission-

Witold Lutoslawski: Grave for cello and piano

Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for cello and piano in C Major, Op. 119

Geirþrúður Anna Guðmundsdóttir, selló
Antoine Préat, píanó

This varied and colorful program takes listeners on a journey through the Europe, across multiple centuries and kingdoms. We begin in 18th century Italy where the brilliant cellist Luigi Boccherini wrote a plethora of sonatas for his own instrument, including this one in G Major. We then leap forward in time to the 1849 and head north to Düsseldorf where Robert Schumann had given himself the challenge to write a series of works featuring different instruments alongside piano. Adagio and Allegro was originally written for the horn but Schumann gave his blessing to this transcription for cello and the piece has been a staple of the cello repertoire ever since. Funnily enough, French composer Claude Debussy was embarking on a similar project some 75 years later. Debussy’s health was failing and he had been unable to compose for some time, but he rallied and was inspired to compose a set of sonatas for a variety of instruments, among them this short and powerful sonata for cello and piano. Following the intermission our journey takes a turn to the east, beyond the Iron Curtain into the former Soviet Union. Our first stop is in Warsaw with the sonorous Grave, or Metamorphoses, by Witold Lutoslawski. The piece is really one seamless build-up, or cresecendo, from beginning to end, ever growing in volume, rhythmic drive, and intensity. The program finally ends in Russia right at the middle of the 20th century with the magnificent cello sonata by Sergei Prokofiev. It’s a beautifully romantic and tender piece but nonetheless full of humor and biting irony.