Brahms Works for Cello & Piano
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johannes Brahms
Label: Simax
Magazine Review Date: 8/1989
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 75
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: PSC1029
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
| Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
| (6) Lieder, Movement: No. 1, Liebestreu (wds. Reinick) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 4, Wiegenlied (wds. Scherer) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 5, Minnelied (wds. Hölty) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
| (6) Lieder, Movement: No. 2, Feldeinsamkeit (wds. Allmers) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 4, Sapphische Ode (wds. Schmidt) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 1, Wie Melodien zieht es mir (wds. Groth) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 2, Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer (wds. Ling |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Johannes Brahms, Composer Juhani Lagerspetz, Piano Truls Mørk, Cello |
Author: James Methuen-Campbell
This CD from the Norwegian cellist Truls Mork, winner of the 1983 Cassado Competition in Florence, was singled out for praise by Mr Donald Clarke in a letter that appeared in the May issue of Gramophone (page 1693). It certainly deserves to be heard by all Brahms lovers. Not only does Mork use a quite superb Montagna instrument made in Venice in 1723, but he plays these two masterpieces of chamber music as if they had been written especially for him. From the very opening phrase of the E minor Sonata I responded to his big, rhapsodic style. He delights in the generous romantic spirit of Brahms. The Finnish pianist Juhani Lagerspetz supports him very adequately, although he is not quite his equal as a musician.
Mork always allows the music to evolve with a natural flow. There is never any point-making. He uses the instrument's beautifully coloured tone to explore both the passionate intensity of Brahms, as well as the dark sorrow that surfaces in the low bass sonorities. Mork manages to inspire Lagerspetz in the first movement of the F major Sonata: the piano's statement of the second subject is a shade unmemorable here, but when Mork takes it up, at once the pianist rises to the challenge and plays with greater insight. The peculiarly hesitant development section of this movement has a wonderfully obscure atmosphere, as the cello hovers with its tremolando over the piano part.
Mork and his cello generally take on a heroic role in the music. Both the latter two movements of the F major Sonata are especially compelling and in the finale he obtains the maximum tone from his instrument—his bowing has that assured sweep to it that one associates more with an older school of playing.
The song transcriptions have been made with reverence and musicality. No one could argue with the taste behind the venture. Wie Melodien zieht es mir was my favourite. The fresh, poetic vision of the song is so strong that it loses little when divested of the lyrics. The recorded sound on this CD is a touch overpowering, with the microphone being placed too close to the piano for my preference.'
Mork always allows the music to evolve with a natural flow. There is never any point-making. He uses the instrument's beautifully coloured tone to explore both the passionate intensity of Brahms, as well as the dark sorrow that surfaces in the low bass sonorities. Mork manages to inspire Lagerspetz in the first movement of the F major Sonata: the piano's statement of the second subject is a shade unmemorable here, but when Mork takes it up, at once the pianist rises to the challenge and plays with greater insight. The peculiarly hesitant development section of this movement has a wonderfully obscure atmosphere, as the cello hovers with its tremolando over the piano part.
Mork and his cello generally take on a heroic role in the music. Both the latter two movements of the F major Sonata are especially compelling and in the finale he obtains the maximum tone from his instrument—his bowing has that assured sweep to it that one associates more with an older school of playing.
The song transcriptions have been made with reverence and musicality. No one could argue with the taste behind the venture. Wie Melodien zieht es mir was my favourite. The fresh, poetic vision of the song is so strong that it loses little when divested of the lyrics. The recorded sound on this CD is a touch overpowering, with the microphone being placed too close to the piano for my preference.'
Brahms Works for Cello & Piano
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.