Cello Sonata no. 3 in A major op. 69, the third of five cello sonatas Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), is the fruit of his most productive middle creative period. It was completed in the summer of 1808 in Heiligenstadt, and was performed in 1809 by the accomplished cellist Nikolaus Kraft, for whom Beethoven wrote one of the movements of the Triple Concerto, and the pianist Baroness Dorothea von Ertmann, one of the best pianists among Beethoven's students. In this sonata, Beethoven equalizes the roles of the cello and piano, giving both equal importance and creating a new model of the sonata that many after him would follow. While the first two sonatas for cello and piano emphasized virtuosity, this sonata is the work of a mature composer, who, however, was facing a major life crisis, his increasing deafness.
Beethoven wrote on the manuscript "Inter lacrymas et luctus" (Amidst tears and sadness), but the work composed in A major exudes more lyrical beauty and aristocratic temperament, in which there is peace, beauty, humor and joy.
The first movement begins with a quiet cello theme, unaccompanied, gradually progressing to a short piano swing, which is repeated, but with the roles of the instruments reversed. An energetic bridge passage leads to the second theme, which is lyrical and rhapsodic, and the instruments organically intertwine, exchanging thematic material. There is no slow movement, but rather a Scherzo follows, typical of the form Beethoven developed during his middle period works - it is more substantial, longer, which it achieves through three repetitions, between which the Trio appears. The theme is characteristic for its irregular accents, and the trio resembles a waltz. A slow introduction of a lyrical atmosphere precedes the Finale, composed in sonata form, in which the cello plays both the main and contrasting second themes. The first theme dominates the development part of the movement, and ends with an expressive coda. It alternates episodes of pronounced bravura with more leisurely and playful ones, giving a sense of ecstasy to the end of the sonata.
Sonata for cello and piano in D minor, Op. 40 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) uses classical form to tell a long story of Beethovenian proportions, built on contrasts between deeply emotional romantic expression and sharp, intellectual energy. It was a rather conservative work by the young Shostakovich, who was the most progressive Russian composer of his time. But, just as he was performing this sonata in Arkhangelsk, in January 1936, his wings were suddenly clipped: from being the strongest hope of Russian music, public opinion suddenly turned against him, after notorious criticism in Justice, "Confusion Instead of Music" - said to have been written by Stalin himself - directed against his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. From that moment on, Shostakovich's arduous journey as a composer who would have to mold his talent into the rules prescribed by the empty, bureaucratic apparatus of Soviet cultural policy would begin. The Sonata, written earlier, was still a free work by a composer who confidently chose his own musical language and rules. Although it is relatively close to tradition, that is, musical rules, it emerged from and reflects a turbulent period in his private life: the sonata is a kind of short chronicle of his extramarital affair that he experienced while working on the rehearsals for Lady Macbeth in 1934, when he briefly separated from his wife. Filled with passion, turbulent feelings, self-irony, sharp tones that echo from the piano and cello like punishment - the sonata depicts this short period. He premiered it in December of the same year, with his friend, the cellist Viktor Kubatsky, to whom he dedicated it.
Cello Sonata Op. 119, late work Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), is inextricably linked with the name of Mstislav Rostropovich. The then twenty-year-old cellist so delighted the composer during a performance in Moscow in 1947 when he played Shostakovich's almost forgotten Cello Concerto, Op. 58, that the composer promised Rostropovich to rework the concerto for him, and in June 1949 they together completed the technically demanding duo sonata that Shostakovich had composed for him. It was first performed that same month before the State Committee for the Arts, and Rostropovich was joined at the piano by another musical great, Svyatoslav Richter. For the printed version, the breakneck final passage was softened by an easier alternative – which probably contributed significantly to its greater popularity.
The sonata is the embodiment of simplicity, there are no harsh overtones that so excitingly permeated his works, and the harmony, rhythm and accompaniment are pure and direct. The cello is especially beautifully written in the lower register, sonorous and rich, sounding alternately lyrical and moving, and then joyful and carefree. The sonata radiates optimism, which was admittedly created under the pressure of Soviet cultural policy, which is why only a year before the creation of this sonata Prokofiev was accused of "formalism", and his music was on the verge of disappearing from the then Soviet stages.
Zrinka Matić
Cellist Clemens Hagen comes from a musical family in Salzburg and began playing the cello at the age of six. Two years later he began his studies at the Mozarteum University and later transferred to the Basel Conservatory. His teachers include Wilfried Tachezi and Heinrich Schiff. In addition to numerous first prizes, he received the Vienna Philharmonic Special Prize and the Dr. Karl Böhm Prize in 1983. As a soloist, Clemens Hagen has performed with internationally renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Camerata Salzburg, the German Chamber Philharmonic Bremen, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the SWR Freiburg, the Cleveland Orchestra and the NHK Tokyo Orchestra, with conductors such as N. Harnoncourt, C. Abbado, F. Welser-Möst, I. Metzmacher, S. Végh, D. Harding, Z. Kocsis and S. Cambreling. There are live CD recordings of the Brahms Double Concerto with Kremer, Harnoncourt / Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Zehetmair, Aimard, Harnoncourt and the European Chamber Orchestra. Clemens Hagen recorded all of Beethoven's works for cello and piano with Paul Gulda. He recorded all of Schumann's works for cello and piano with Stefan Vladar. On his latest CD, Clemens Hagen plays Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major. Clemens Hagen considers chamber music an essential addition to his solo activities - with the Hagen Quartet he has been performing around the world for more than 35 years and has released over 45 CDs for Deutsche Grammophon. Other chamber music partners are G. Kremer, R. Capucon, L. Kavakos, M. Vengerov. C. Tetzlaff, Y. Wang, E. Kissin, M. Uchida, M. Argerich, H. Grimaud and a number of others. In 2003, C. Abbado invited Clemens Hagen to join his newly founded Lucerne Festival Orchestra, of which he remains a member today. Since the 2018/19 season, Clemens Hagen has been the cellist of the Vienna Piano Trio. Clemens Hagen has taught cello and chamber music at the Mozarteum University since 1988, where he was an assistant to H. Schiff in the early years. In 2002, he received his habilitation at the Mozarteum University, and has been a professor at that institution since 2003. Clemens Hagen plays a cello made in 1698 by Antonius Stradivarius.
Born in Brussels, Philippe Raskin He dedicated himself to music at a very early age. His performances “radiate authority (…), are brilliant, generous, dedicated and controlled (MDM, La Libre Belgique), and he plays with “impressive confidence” (JK, Mundo Classico).
He studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and joined the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where he graduated with the highest honors, receiving the Diploma of the Queen of the Belgians. He also specialized in chamber music, and studied at the Queen Sofia College in Madrid, under the guidance of Dimitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martinez Mehner. He won a number of competitions – the JS Bach Competition, the Gretry Rotary Competition, the International Piano Competition in Paris, the Lions Club, International Piano Competition André Dumortier etc. He performs in numerous solo recitals, as a soloist with orchestras, and in chamber ensembles, at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory Hall, the Shanghai Conservatory, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Berlin Philharmonic and many others. He regularly performs and premieres works by contemporary composers, such as Jean-Marie Rens, Serkan Gürkan, Christophe Ehrenfellner and Michel Béro.
He is a member of the jury at numerous international piano competitions, and the artistic director of the César Franck International Piano Competition as well as the International Music Festival (IMF) in Paris.
In 2009, he founded his own piano school and teaches master classes in Belgium and abroad. He is the artistic director of the festival Resonances Chamber Music, and teaches at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels.
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Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3 in A major, Op. 69
Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op. 40
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 119
