Rachmaninoff cello sonata history

Rachmaninoff cello sonata program notes
Rachmaninoff cello sonata analysis
Rachmaninov cello concerto

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The mystic aspect to Rachmaninov’s art can be felt strongly throughout his Cello Sonata, his most famous piece of chamber music. While there are no obvious quotations from any Orthodox hymns, the style of many of the themes, with their close intervals, their incense-filled colours, the passionate, almost obsessive repetition of single notes (particularly in the main theme of the slow movement), and the frequent bell-like sonorities, owe a huge debt to the music of the Russian Church that was such an important influence on the composer’s life. Written in 1901, the year after the perennially beloved Second Piano Concerto, the Cello Sonata reflects, perhaps, the state of Rachmaninov’s heart and mind. Having suffered a nervous breakdown after the catastrophic failure of his First Symphony in 1897, Rachmaninov had fought his way back to mental and creative health. Surely it is not fanciful to hear an echo of this in the struggles of the first movement, with its conflict between semitones and whole tones; in the dark night of the Scherzo; and then in the blazing joy of

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Program: Isserlis and Shih: cello sonatas by Shostakovich, Kabalevsky and Rachmaninov, from Tokyo

Acclaimed worldwide for his profound musicianship and technical mastery, British cellist Steven Isserlis enjoys a uniquely varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster.

He appears with the world's leading orchestras and conductors and in 2022 appeared in concert in Tokyo with pianist Connie Shih.

The Canadian pianist is considered to be one of Canada's most outstanding artists. In 1993 she was awarded the Sylva Gelber Award for most outstanding classical artist under age 30. At the age of nine, she made her orchestral debut with Mendelssohn's first Piano Concerto with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

The concert of cello sonatas by Shostakovich, Kabalevsky and Rachmaninov, at Oji Hall, Tokyo, Japan.

Live concert recording from Oji Hall, Tokyo, Japan on September 14th, 2022 courtesy of Euroradio.

Program

Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D minor
Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky: Cello Sonata in B flat
Serge Rachmaninov: Cello

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Steven Isserlis

Composers

Late Schumann

“Of course I love the music of ALL the great composers, to a lesser or greater extent – as well as some pop music, especially (showing my age) the Beatles. As I said in my book, if I had to take one composer to a desert island – and thank God that I don’t! – it would have to be J.S. Bach. But I also have a missionary zeal to promote any lesser-known music which I think deserves to be heard more often. Under this category comes the late music of Robert Schumann. There’s a generally accepted idea that his late music is weak; I disagree VEHEMENTLY! Some of it is strange, definitely, and maybe not as immediately appealing as his earlier works; but the more one knows it, the more one gets to love it. A case in point is the violin concerto; this work was written in the last years of Schumann’s creative life (he was taken to a mental asylum in 1854, where he died in 1856). It is a strangely introspective work, with a curious humour, and a somehow tired intimacy to it; but it’s so touching