DE 3415 Mendelssohn: Complete Music for Cello and Piano Emanuel Gruber, Cello • Arnon Erez, Piano
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DE 3415 Mendelssohn: Complete Music for Cello and Piano Emanuel Gruber, cello • Arnon Erez, piano Variations Concertantes, Op. 17 Dear Listener, 1. Theme (Andante con moto) (1:04) The idea of a complete recording of Mendelssohn’s works for 2. Variation 1 (:30) cello and piano came to me two years ago, in 2009, when the 3. Variation 2 (:29) musical world celebrated the composer’s 200th birthday anniver- 4. Variation 3 (Più vivace) (:32) sary. I had already recorded Beethoven’s music for these instru- 5. Variation 4 (Allegro con fuoco) (:40) ments, and this new project seemed a logical continuation. 6. Variation 5 (L’istesso tempo) (:46) 7. Variation 6 (L’istesso tempo) (:31) Mendelssohn had a great gift for melody, and knew how to de- velop his musical themes with clarity and impact. The cello is an 8. Variation 7 (Presto ed agitato) (:1:37) ideal medium for rendering the warm, singing quality of his 9. Variation 8 (Tempo 1) - Coda (3:03) music, as well as its playfulness and exuberance. His creations are noble, generous, optimistic and full of joyful enthusiasm. There Sonata No.1 in B-flat Major, Op. 45 may be moments of doubt, melancholy and pain – but they dis- 10. Allegro vivace (11:58) appear quickly as his impetuous, ever-youthful drive and positive 11. Andante (5:16) energy take over, lifting us up into an ideal world filled with goodness and hope. 12. Allegro assai (6:33) 13. Song Without Words, Op. 109 (4:45) Arnon and I hope that you’ll enjoy our interpretations and share our joy in bringing you this beautiful music. 14. Assai Tranquillo (2:31) Emanuel Gruber Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 15. Allegro assai vivace (8:17) 16. Allegretto scherzando (5:12) 17. Adagio (5:04) Executive Producer: Carol Rosenberger 18. Molto allegro e vivace (7:14) Recording Producer and Engineer: David Hadad Assistant Engineer and Mastering: Zvi Hirschler Editing: Michael LaRoche TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 66:02 Mastering: Matthew Snyder Recorded at Jerusalem Music Center, June 3-5, 2009 Cover Photo: Israel Kornbrot This recording is dedicated to the memory 7 W 2011 Delos Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 343 Sonoma, CA 95476-9998 of my parents, Gherty and Jean Gruber (707) 996-3844 • Fax (707) 320-0600 • (800) 364-0645 Made in USA — Emanuel Gruber www.delosmusic.com NOTES ON THE PROGRAM Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) may not qualify as one of the Romantic era’s pioneering movers forthright person who made friends and influenced people with ease, and rarely had prob- and shakers – like Berlioz, Chopin, Liszt or Wagner. Yet a closer look at his tragically brief jour- lems getting things done his way. Possibly his only significant personal defect was a ten- ney through life (38 years) reveals one of the most fascinating musicians who ever lived. dency to occasional, disabling tantrums of apoplectic rage when he didn’t get his way – possibly a result of his plush and pampered childhood. But even that may have been the re- The grandson of revered Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and the son of Abraham, a sult of congenital illness, as other members of his family suffered similar afflictions. Such fits successful banker, he was born into a world of wealth, privilege and social standing. No ef- – probably aggravated by compulsive overwork – increased as he grew older, and may well fort or expense was spared where his education and the encouragement of his glittering tal- have led to the series of strokes that eventually killed him. ent were concerned. His parents, unlike Mozart’s, wisely spared him the stress and turmoil of a show-prodigy’s life. But they saw to it that he was otherwise thoroughly soaked in Ger- For those who still consider Mendelssohn to be a supremely brilliant, yet insubstantial com- many’s richest pools of art and culture, and exposed to the finest minds. poser whose music lacks true depth or profundity, we can only prescribe auditioning some of his final works – particularly spiritual ones like the oratorio Elijah or his late a cappella motets. One of his endless friendships, in particular, is the most telling. Karl Friedrich Zelter, his pri- Had he lived longer, there would be absolutely no doubt as to the musical depths he was ca- mary composition teacher, introduced Mendelssohn – as a boy of twelve – to the elderly Jo- pable of. His oeuvre – encompassing every major genre save opera – may not reflect much of hann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany’s greatest poet-philosopher. This led to a series of life’s inevitable downsides, but it contains much of the Romantic era’s most effulgent, elegant, lengthy visits and frequent correspondence between them which lasted until Goethe’s death appealing, and uplifting music. In terms of pure charm, lyric sweetness, melodic invention a decade later. By all accounts, the aged master – who, as a youth, had heard the young and sheer compositional facility, he had few, if any equals in his day. And he knew how to Mozart – took an immediate shine to the charming and graceful lad, showering him with a add contrast and interest to his music by infusing it with moments of drama and turbulence – surrogate grandpa’s doting affection while otherwise treating him as his intellectual equal. though such moments rarely dominate. And nobody of his era approached his contrapuntal mastery: witness the ingenious fugato passages that adorn so many of his works. His finest ef- There remains little doubt that Mendelssohn was probably history’s greatest musical prodigy. By forts have an elfin effervescence to them that can only be described as magical. his early teens, he could spin smart and sassy fugues that rivaled even those of his idol Bach in terms of musical facility and sophistication (listen to his bubbly String Symphonies sometime). Indeed, whatever his compositions may lack in terms of life’s guaranteed grit and turmoil, his These days, musicologists even speculate that his precocity even exceeded that of the young music’s boundless, unquenchable joy and optimism more than make up for it. Mendelssohn is Mozart (Goethe thought so, too). Not even the fabled Wunderkind Wolfgang, at age sixteen, was one of the precious few composers whose proverbial glass was always half-full … never half- composing the kinds of peerless masterpieces – like the Octet for Strings or the Midsummer Night’s empty – and that rubs off on his listeners. Can we ever get enough of such “half-full” re- Dream overture – which Felix produced at that age. And he was not his family’s only musical ge- minders? His miraculous creations lift us up and away from our daily cares and woes – and we nius: some thought that his older sister Fanny was at least his equal – and his younger brother are much the happier for it, if only for a little while. Dare we therefore think of Mendelssohn’s Paul became an accomplished cellist, for whom two of the works heard here were written. music as potent therapy for injured souls? And which souls among us bear no wounds? But the fact remains that Mendelssohn suffered little – if any – of the deprivation, trial or Let’s now examine how these and other musical strengths figure in Mendelssohn’s wonderful trauma that molded the music of many of his fellow composers – which helps to explain music for cello and piano. This recording contains Mendelssohn’s complete original works for why so many of his compositions reflect the sunnier sides of life. Perhaps his only source of these instruments – though cellist Alfredo Piatti (and several others since) transcribed a num- intermittent anguish was that he couldn’t completely escape the anti-Semitic sentiment that ber of his Songs without Words for them. It’s interesting to note that all of the works here were ran high in German lands. Recognizing this, his father and immediate family had gradually written for (and dedicated to) specific cellists whom he knew and worked with. undergone conversion to Christianity: young Felix was baptized as a Lutheran in 1816. Even so, his Jewish ancestry dogged him throughout his life, and may even have cost him an im- Composed in 1829 – the same year Mendelssohn revived Bach’s St. Matthew Passion – the portant position or two. Variations Concertantes, Op.17 were written with his brother Paul in mind. While the younger Mendelssohn followed his father into the banking business, he remained an avid Otherwise, he lived a mostly charmed life, earning endless success as a pianist, conductor and accomplished amateur cellist – and his devotion to Felix was boundless. It was Paul who, and composer. Among other accomplishments, he transformed the Leipzig Gewandhaus Or- upon his brother’s death, immediately saw to the care and well-being of his widow Cécile chestra into Europe’s finest symphonic ensemble, and founded one of the world’s leading and their children – and worked tirelessly to promote and preserve his musical legacy. From conservatories there. He was respected – even revered – both at home and abroad, even be- the piece’s considerable technical demands and interpretive subtleties, the composer’s high coming the darling of royalty (including England’s Queen Victoria). He was a charming and regard for his brother’s abilities is obvious. Both instruments – beginning with the piano – trade the main theme back and forth, arching The touching Assai Tranquillo – from 1835 – was originally written simply as a short Album- sweetly upward in a series of distinct phrases (helpful for variations) that build in lyrical inten- blatt (Album-page) for cellist Julius Reitz: a colleague and friend from Mendelssohn’s early job sity before falling back.