Dohnányi: Cello Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 8

"in a fine performance such as this, the work still amazes…The Cello Sonata allows us to savour a superb partnership between Michael Kanka and Jaromir Klepac - they surmount every difficulty and Kanka's phrasing is often delightful." The Strad, November 2008

American cellist Marcy Rosen presents a fascinating recital of three turn of the century works for cello. Ludwig Thuille's sonata shows Wagnerian influences alongside contrapuntal mastery, whilst Sir Donald Francis Tovey's Sonata for Two Cellos shows a distinct Brahmsian influence with the score both inspired and beautifully wrought. The disc concludes with Dohnányi’s Sonata Op. 8, a work which contains an ardent first movement, a gorgeous slow movement, a sparkling scherzo, and an ingenuous set of variations for its finale.

This anthology of Hungarian music for cello and piano ranges widely from Liszt’s haunting The Nonnenwerth Cloisters and two salon pieces by the great 19th century cello virtuoso Popper, to composers of the 20th century. Bartók’s First Rhapsody is an original folk-song arrangement intended to popularise the composer’s music as part of a lighter genre. Dohnányi’s Sonata in B flat, Op. 8, for cello and piano, is a formidable work in four movements written in the tradition of the great Romantic sonata. Rósza’s Toccata capricciosa, a fantasy on Hungarian themes, is a virtuosic tour-de-force for solo cello.

"Erno Dohnanyi was another of those 20th-century throwbacks to the Romantic Age who continued to produce lush, melodic opuses long after they had gone out of style. But they're coming back in vogue, so maybe we'll see a Dohnanyi comeback. The major work represented here is his Konzertstuck for Cello and Orchestra, a pleasant, songful, rhapsodic piece that lingers long enough for momentary enjoyment and then recedes into oblivion. It's about 30 minutes of relaxing escapism. It is followed by a more energetic piece, the Sonata for Cello and Piano, again about a half hour's duration but divided into four contrasting moods, the finale a set of attractive variations. The program concludes with a short tone picture called 'Ruralia Hungarica,' the title of which is pretty much self explanatory.

"The sound Naxos provides is typical of the label: Warm, sweet, and ultra-smooth. ...as usual, the disc represents good value and good exploration."

- Sensible Sound, April-May, 2000

On the occasion of Esther Nyffenegger’s 70th birthday, DIVOX presents the box «En fête Opus 1» with her recordings that document the great breadth of 19th century chamber music for cello. These outstanding interpretations were recorded between 1974 and 1978 and in 2000.

Esther Nyffenegger, is acclaimed by critics for her clear and valiant tone and the passion of her playing. In the course of her career, she was solo cellist of the Lucerne Festival Strings, won a second prize at the ‘Casals Competition’ and the Soloist’s Prize of the ‘Swiss Musicians’ Association’. She has been teaching continuously from the early 1970s to this day, at first in Winterthur and Lucerne; for a long time she also held a guest chair at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts. She gave the world premiere of the Cello Concerto by H. Sutermeister, which the composer dedicated to her, as well as the world premiere of Hans Pfitzner’s Cello Concerto, written in 1888 but considered lost until very recently.