Liszt: Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, S382

A cello recital with a difference from two maverick geniuses, displaying the fecundity of their collaboration. The world-famous cellist Steven Isserlis, one of the best-loved instrumentalists of today, joins forces with composer and pianist Thomas Adès, described by the New York Times as one of the most imposing figures in contemporary music.

This recording opens with three of Liszt’s arrangements for cello and piano—the dark plangency of Isserlis’s tone emphasizing their elegiac power. Janácek’s Pohádka (‘A Tale’) is based on a story with many magical elements, and it is this particular quality which Isserlis and Adès bring out in their aerial performance. The passionate ecstasy of Fauré’s Cello Sonata No 2 is deeply felt, and the elemental mysterious sadness of Kurtág’s miniatures leads the listener into the 21st century and to the ‘title track’ of this disc which Adès wrote for Isserlis himself. Lieux retrouvés is a characteristically thrilling tour de force, displaying influences from all the composers previously featured and many more. The writing for the cello reaches uncharted levels of difficulty. Isserlis in his thoughtful booklet notes describes it in pictorial terms of rivers and mountains—here’s Anthony Tommasini, again in the New York Times: ‘The rippling figures for piano and cello spin out in crazed, cyclic riffs; the crystalline piano harmonies sound as if the wind were rustling the chimes in the pagoda; the feisty, industrialized propulsive bursts in the finale.’

This resolutely elegiac disc offers an opportunity to discover, through their chamber music, the dark side of two composers who are not often associated. Smetana’s primary purpose was to give utterance to a cry of pain at his daughter’s death through the appropriate medium of the piano trio. In the Liszt pieces, elegies and funeral gondolas remind us of the deeply human and tormented nature of a composer haunted by death and who, more than any other, was capable of expressing its icy smile. The Trio Wanderer realise all this in deeply moving performances.

Since 1999, the Trio Wanderer has released, on Le Chant du Monde and harmonia mundi, a series of recordings that have received a warm welcome from the press, winning notably a best of the year award from Le Monde de la Musique for its CD of Haydn trios, and numerous international awards for Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet and the trios of Shostakovich and Saint-Saëns. Its recording of the Brahms piano trios was honoured by a Diapason d’Or of the year 2006 and the Midem Classical Award in the chamber music category in January 2007. In 2009, the Trio Wanderer was voted ‘Best chamber music ensemble’ at the Victoires de la Musique for the third time (after 1997 and 2000).

Jean-Marc Phillips plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1738). Raphaël Pidoux plays a violoncello by Gioffredo Cappa (1680).

This recording is a welcome reissue of Liszt’s own transcriptions of his piano works for cello and piano. Rian de Waal, who unfortunately passed away last year, was famous for his Liszt interpretations. Together with Harro Ruysenaars, who was the first cellist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for many years, he recorded this program, which is unique in its kind. There are only very few recordings available and thus is this set a very welcome addition to the catalogue again.

This release features the complete works for Cello and piano beautifully performed by the Pantillen brothers, Christophe and Marc. Christophe Pantillen is an acclaimed Swiss cellist who now resides in Vienna and is the first cellist of the Wiener Kammer Orchester and the founder of the Aron Quartett. The CD contains many rarities and will be of great interest to cello, piano and Liszt admirers alike.

Schumann’s Cello Concerto was long regarded as a minor achievement; it has also been accused of treating the solo instrument unfavourably. As is often the case with the compositions of Schumann’s middle and late periods, interpreters must to understand its singularity in order to bring it out. It is thanks to great performers such as the legendary cellist Pablo Casals, for whom Schumann’s Cello Concerto was “one of the finest works one could wish to hear – sublime music from beginning to end”, that this work now at last has its rightful place in the repertoire.

Although relations between Schumann and Liszt were often clouded by Clara’s lack of understanding, and even jealousy, Liszt recognised his friend’s genius better than anyone, and at Weimar conducted scores that had not been understood when they were first performed. We do not know whether or not Liszt knew the Cello Concerto, but he was reliant on transcriptions as a source of incme. Ophélie Gaillard has chosen five pieces for cello and piano: two were originally songs with piano accompaniment written in his youth; the other three pieces, dating from the end of Liszt’s life, show the soberness and bold language that characterise his late works. Although a Baroque specialist, Gaillard is also very fond of Romantic repertoire. Her recording for Ambroisie of the complete cello works of Schumann, Fauré, then Chopin were highly acclaimed by the press, while the solo album Dreams (Aparté), made at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, proved to be a great public success.

Ophélie Gaillard plays a cello by Francesco Goffriller (1737), generously loaned to her by CIC, and also an anonymous Flemish violoncello piccolo.

This CD completes this set of all Liszt’s works for violin and piano. Included are Rapsodie hongroise XII, Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth and Zwei Walzer. The first volume was well received; “..his mix of technical fireworks with honey and cream tones fills the works with understanding. Wonderfully alive accompaniments from Rolf-Dieter Arens.” Yorkshire Post

Many of Liszt’s works were transcribed for other instruments; both by the composer himself and other musicians. These hauntingly beautiful pieces for cello and piano were originally written for piano solo or the voice. They are from the final period of his life and are the product of his old age and his quest for spirituality. Far from the virtuoso brilliance of his earlier works, their intense and romantic melodies express melancholy and desolation, the sparse textures and harmonic instability daringly looking forward to the twentieth century.

The rich and warm expressive qualities of the cello undoubtedly make these pieces even more effective. The most significant work in this collection is La lugubre gondola, a compelling piece written after Liszt had a premonition of Wagner’s death. It was inspired by the Venetian gondola funeral processions he observed during a visit to the city to see Wagner. The music conveys the stillness of a Venetian lagoon, the unsettling harmonies also evoking the underlying darkness and despair. Another work with a very personal connection is the nostalgic Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, a transcription of one of his songs. Nonnenwerth was an island in the Rhine where Liszt spent time with Marie d’Agoult and their children, and his fondness for the work resulted in many different versions for solo piano, voice and piano duet as well as this version for cello and piano. There are also transcriptions for cello and piano by other musicians of some of his most popular piano works, including the six Consolations, Angelus!

From the third volume of Années de Pelèrinages and the Liebestraum No.3. The performers of this moving collection of works are the Italian cellist Francesco Dillon and the pianist Emanuele Torquati. Francesco Dillon performs as a soloist and with chamber groups all over the world and has made several recordings of unusual cello repertoire, including an album of Schumann rarities for Brilliant Classics.

Barnabás Kelemen, Gold Medallist of the 2002 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, has established himself as one of the leading violinists of his generation, appearing regularly as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician at many of the world’s major musical venues and festivals. He has toured extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, South Africa, Japan and Taiwan. In September 2005 he was appointed Professor of Violin at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest.