Kodály: Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8

Kodály's orchestral scores are full of what Bartók described as ‘the most perfect embodiment of the Hungarian spirit’. There's fierce virtuosity of his Sonata for Solo Cello, and haunting writing for voices in his choral works – the expression of his belief in the universal musical value of singing.

Through these selected masterpieces of the repertoire for solo cello, Emmanuelle Bertrand invites us on a journey to the heart of language of popular inspiration.

Composed in 1971 by Benjamin Britten for Mstislav Rostropovich, the Suite for unaccompanied cello No.3 has often been regarded as a sort of private journal of the composer’s, so emotionally charged does it seem. We do not know its exact programme, but the importance of the work’s dedicatee cannot be underestimated in view of the references it contains. It comprises nine movements, the principal elements of which come from three Russian folk themes arranged by Tchaikovsky in his volumes of folksongs for piano and a funeral hymn from the Orthodox liturgy, the Kontakion.

The masterpiece of the Catalan composer Gaspar Cassadó, the Suite for cello composed in 1925 is well known to exponents of the instrument for its virtuoso demands. Its three movements are based on three Spanish folk dances.

Pascal Amoyel’s Itinérance (2003) derives its context above all from a joint project of the composer-pianist and Emmanuelle Bertrand entitled ‘Block 15’, which generated a series of staged concerts based on the testimony of two survivors of Auschwitz concentration camp, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Simon Laks; both musicians, they explain in their writings how music and its special status in the camps saved their lives.

The programme ends with Kodály’s Sonata Op.8, probably the most remarkable and most frequently played chamber work of the Hungarian composer. The formal simplicity of its three movements contrasts with the extraordinary technical challenges their inventiveness poses for the interpreter.

Discovered when she won the young soloist category at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2001, Emmanuelle Bertrand is one of today’s leading cellists. Her penchant for contemporary music has led her to give the first performances of numerous works dedicated to her, among them pieces by Édith Canat de Chizy, Pascal Amoyel, and Bernard Cavanna (Shanghai Concerto).

A passionate devotee of chamber music and member of the ensemble Les Violoncelles Français, she has appeared in duo repertoire with the pianist Pascal Amoyel since 1999. Her harmonia mundi recordings as a soloist or in tandem with Amoyel have all received prestigious critical accolades in France and abroad.

Having been hailed by critics as “a phenomenon who is without doubt already one of the finest cellists on the world stage today”, the young virtuoso cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia has established himself as one of the most exciting new musical talents. Born in 1995 in Bogotá, Columbia, he commenced studies at 4 with Polish cellist Henryk Zarzyycki, and gave his first concerto performance at the age of 6. With numerous awards and prizes under his belt, his debut CD for Atoll will undoubtedly be the showcase for his many talents.

Following on from the success of his first recording, Lionel Handy now presents Kodaly’s Solo Sonata for cello. The piece explores the entire range and every conceivable technique of the instrument in a work of rare invention; a real tour de force performed with élan. Coupled with the rarely heard Duo for Violin and Cello.

A wonderful collection of solo cello works from the award winning Russian cellist Boris Andrianov, featuring the sublime Pablo Casals composition Song of the Birds. Boris Andrianov was awarded a Gramophone Editor’s Choice for his previous Quartz release – Shostakovich and Rachmaninov Cello Sonatas (QTZ2053)

The wonderful young cellist Natalie Clein has been a familiar name since winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1994. Since then, she has pursued a distinguished career performing with the most celebrated orchestras and conductors around the world. She has also made a number of recordings—generally concentrating on the most popular cello repertoire. For her Hyperion debut she turns to a composer who is extremely close to her heart, the great Hungarian national composer Zoltán Kodály, who by his discovery and creative use of his folk-music heritage forged the standard by which twentieth-century Hungarian music should be judged.

Kodály made a decision to concentrate on instrumental and chamber music in his composing career, and he seemed to achieve more powerful results the fewer instruments he dealt with. He displayed elegant formal grasp and structural sophistication in his two string quartets and sheer passion and epic sweep in the violin-cello Duo (1914). But above all towers the amazing, ardent, pugnacious Sonata for Solo Cello (1915), the greatest utterance in this most demanding of genres since J S Bach’s solo cello suites. Calum MacDonald writes that ‘Had he written nothing else apart from this magnificent sonata, Kodály would still deserve to be accounted one of the greatest musical geniuses that Hungary has ever produced’. Natalie Clein’s performance of this highly emotional monologue is a passionate, coruscating tour-de-force.

Also included are a delightful selection of Kodály’s other works for cello; performed here with Hyperion regular and Natalie’s frequent duo partner, Julius Drake.

Cellist Wen-Sinn Yang dispatches an awesomely virtuoso album of 19th and 20th centuries solo works – the sonatas by Kodály and Ysäye, as well as pieces by the Spanish cellist/composer Gaspar Cassado and virtually unknown Hans Bottermund and Julius Klengel.

Swiss-born Taiwanese cellist Wen-Sinn Yang is one of Europe’s great virtuosos, dispatching the most daunting works with fearless ease. A devotee of contemporary music, he has given premieres by such eminent composers as Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, Kevin Volans and Lorin Maazel. An active recording artist with over 20 releases to his credit, on this new Avie disc Wen-Sinn claims the spotlight exclusively. Featuring solo repertoire that straddles the 19th and 20th centuries, all performed with awesome virtuosity, the result is a generously-filled album that is a must for all cellists and a thrilling ride for any music lover.

At the age of 24, Wen-Sinn became principal cellist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and 15 years later was offered a chair at the Munich College of Music. In 1991, he won the Geneva International Music Competition and has since performed all over the world, collaborating with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Semyon Bychkov and Mariss Jansons, and performing chamber music with the likes of Eduard Brunner and Helene Grimaud.