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. Melodic duty falls to the cello in the first variation, with delicate “pizzi- in Düsseldorf. But the piece has since become better known by its Italian interpretive marking. cato” underpinnings from the piano that soon bloom into richer textures as the cello’s voice It bears no opus number, as it remained unpublished (and unknown) until it was discovered becomes more rhapsodic. The piano takes a virtuosic lead in the next, with the cello taking a among Reitz’s personal papers in the 1960s. A soft and sweetly sentimental number, the cello’s quick breather before entering at low register, only later becoming a more active participant. poignant melody – for the most part – takes the lead, but with varied and skillfully-wrought Then, in the third, it’s the cello’s turn to show off, skittering nimbly and negotiating tricky runs piano support. An unusual feature is the fact that the piece ends on the dominant, making the over its partner’s spare chords before dropping to a low trill beneath the piano’s melody. The piece sound unfinished – as if to let Reitz know that, even though the demands of the com- piano again takes charge in the next, with contrasting mutterings from the cello before it re- poser’s burgeoning career might separate them, they would still remain friends. claims the melody near the end. The fifth, with its sense of nobility slightly skewed by pizzicato cello and dotted rhythms, is oddly reminiscent of Beethoven. The sixth – with its gentle, yet in- The Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58 appeared in the summer of 1843, at a time of sistent lyricism – is the perfect foil to the stormy, minor-key drama of the extended seventh – considerable overwork-induced stress in his life – though it hardly shows in this glowing again recalling the spirit of Beethoven (a major influence at the time). The final variation ramps and happy music. Dedicated to the Russian soldier-cellist Count Mateusz Wielhorski, it that drama up a notch, before a protracted episode of thematic give-and-take fades into the was first performed in Leipzig later that year. This one extends the classical sonata model work’s subdued close. from the usual three movements to four. But – like the first sonata – it adheres strictly to the organizational precepts of sonata-allegro form. Mendelssohn produced his Cello Sonata No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 45, in 1838; it’s the final work written specifically for his brother Paul. While it remains eclipsed by the weightier and more The first movement, marked Allegro assai vivace, gets right down to business, with the ardent often-heard second sonata (below), the music is pure and unadulterated Mendelssohn, with main theme surging forth from the cello over an insistent (and virtuosic) piano foundation. its prevailing blithe spirit. And it demonstrates his wonderful penchant for elegant, yet heart- The music grows in confidence and passion until the cello recedes, allowing the piano to take felt cello “singing” – as well as his ability to make the most of traditional forms. As in all of the over the theme. The pianist remains dominant as the more songful and (slightly) less aggres- works heard here, the piano is rarely relegated to a mere support role, consistently remaining sive second theme surfaces, but the cello soon gives voice to an extension of it. Both motifs are the cello’s equal musical partner – no surprise, given the composer’s prowess as a pianist. further explored in the development section, in a giddy welter of give-and-take. A blazing coda ends the movement with a bang. The following Allegretto scherzando opens with a The momentarily gruff sound of the first bar or two of the opening Allegro vivace movement perky, oddly playful piano tune, accented by the cello’s pizzicato notes. The cello doesn’t get is again reminiscent of Beethoven (specifically his own Op. 69 cello sonata). But that quickly to resume its customary cantabile role until it introduces the mellow and flowing second sub- dissipates as the main theme unfolds in relaxed high spirits, with brief contrasting flashes of ject – which is reprised near the end, after an unusually brusque passage. The music then dies tension and drama. There’s an overall sense of exuberant momentum throughout, with fasci- out, with bits and pieces of both themes fading to a final whimper. nating interplay between the cello’s firm cantabile voice and the piano’s brilliance. The brief and choppy phrases that open the central Andante convey a sense of whimsical inquiry, The work’s heart is found in the short, but transcendental Adagio, built upon an expansive touched by fleeting mystery and doubt. The prevailing mood fades as the cello shifts into a chorale tune first heard in rich arpeggios from the piano. Said theme closely mirrors that of the melting cantabile passage that soon reverts to elaborations on the truncated opening theme. “Es ist Vollbracht” (It is finished) chorale from Bach’s St John Passion, reflecting Mendelssohn’s The piano part becomes more involved, lending the theme a mildly troubled aspect as the never-ending reverence for the old Leipzig master. The cello soon rises over the piano’s now- movement ends. The finale – marked Allegro assai –reverts to thematic material that smacks subdued chords, in what sounds like a passionate aria that morphs into a more literal, recita- of the first movement’s, but in lighter and more jovial musical language. Brief episodes of tive-like passage. But, before long, the cello’s themes ring out over the original keyboard veiled menace fail to break the predominantly happy spell, and the music expires with a con- arpeggios. Listen for what sounds like a touch of pathos-laced Jewish cantorial music from the tented sigh. cello: several analysts have theorized that this movement is a kind of musical parable of an inner conflict between Mendelssohn’s Jewish heritage and his adopted Lutheran faith. Mendelssohn’s lovely Song without Words, Op. 109 – written in 1845 – is actually the final work he wrote for these instruments. A popular mini-form at the time, the bulk of Then it’s off to the races in the ebullient and festive finale (Molto allegro e vivace). It’s a Mendelssohn’s cherished Songs without Words (eight books of them) are for solo piano. He headlong and happy romp through most of its course, with comparatively little thematic composed this particularly fetching example for Lisa Christiani: one of Europe’s first female variation or development. Instead, the composer provides ample opportunity for both play- cello virtuosos. The cello gets to do just about all of the “singing” here, with an achingly ro- ers to beguile their listeners with virtuosic runs and figurations. This is thrilling, edge-of- mantic melody that’s ideally suited to the instrument’s sound and range. But the sweetness your-seat music: Mendelssohn at his puckish, playful best. turns into tart turbulence in the stormy, minor-hued middle section before a vaguely unset- tled sense of calm returns at the end. — Lindsay Koob BIOGRAPHY • CREDITS

Gramophone has remarked that Emanuel Gruber and Arnon Erez are so ‘like-minded” musically that in addition to the conversational element characteristic of chamber music, their performances have a rare unifying ingredient, almost as if a conductor were present. About their “splendid” recording of the Beethoven works for cello and piano (Eroica, 2006), Gramophone noted that Gruber and Erez “shape with such thoughtfulness and precision that it seems someone has to be directing the whole affair.“

Emanuel Gruber is celebrated as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. He has brought Highly acclaimed for his sensitivity and virtuosity, as well as his successful collaboration with his “authority, sensitivity to musical values, wide dynamic range, and great mastery of his in- world famous musicians Arnon Erez has gained a reputation as an outstanding pianist. strument” (Music Journal, New York) to collaborations with artists such as Neville Marriner, Rudolph Barshai, Shelomo Mintz, Pinchas Zukerman, Miriam Fried, Philippe Entremont, Jean Mr. Erez plays in one of the world’s leading duos with violinist Hagai Shaham, which has Bernard Pommier, Tamas Vasary, and Janos Starker. attracted much praise from critics:

“One of our great artists“ the Jerusalem Post wrote, citing “his extraordinary capacity for “A superb partnership…the sheer verve of the playing is irresistible.“ Gramophone projecting the deepest meaning of the music.” Awarded the Pablo Casals prize by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, he also won the Concert Artists’ Guild Auditions in New York City “…an exciting and imaginatively-shaped performance…” BBC Music Magazine early in his career. The Duo’s fruitful collaboration has crowned them with the first prize at the Munich International He has been principal cellist of the Israel Chamber Orchestra and co-principal of the Los An- Duo Competition in 1990, which led to numerous concerts and recordings. geles Chamber Orchestra. He was a member of the Sequoia Quartet, Camerata Trio, Tel Aviv Piano Quartet, and leader of the Israel Cello Ensemble. He is a founding member of the Tel Arnon Erez also performs with many other top musicians worldwide, including Shlomo Mintz, Aviv Chamber Music Society, and currently teaches cello and chamber music at East Car- Gil Shaham, Maxim Vengerov, David Garret, Arnold Steinhardt, Raphael Wallfisch, and Frans olina University. Helmerson. He has performed in numerous major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, New York; Beethoven Halle, Bonn; Alte Oper, Frankfurt; Herkulessall, Munich; Musikverein, Emanuel Gruber has performed in many major festivals including the Salzburg, Bath, San Se- Vienna; the New Auditorium du Louvre in Paris and London’s Wigmore Hall. bastian, Northwestern (Portland), Eilat (Israel), Musike (France), Musical Spring (St. Petersburg), and Rostropovich Cello Festival (Riga). He was a jury member for the Second Davidoff Interna- Mr. Erez has appeared in major festivals around the world, and as a soloist he has performed tional Cello Competition in Kuldiga, Latvia, and for the Salou Music Competition in Spain. with various orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic. In addition, he has given many recitals and recorded for radio and television stations in Germany, Austria, France, Holland, Mr. Gruber has been visiting professor at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloom- Israel, Turkey, Mexico and Brazil. ington, and has taught at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. He teaches peri- odically at Barcelona School of Music, the International Cello Seminar in Israel, the Canetti His discography, mainly on the Hyperion label, won much praise and a BBC Music Magazine International summer course, the Summit Music Festival in New York, the International Acad- Choice. His recordings include Grieg sonatas; Bloch, sonatas and suites; Beethoven, com- emy of Music in Italy and the Burgos International Music Festival in Spain. plete cello and piano sonatas; Brahms-Joachim Hungarian dances; and works by Hubay, Weiner, Achron, and more. He began his cello studies with the distinguished Romanian pedagogue Paul Ochialbi, and grad- uated from the Academy of Music in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv. Under the auspices of the Amer- Arnon Erez graduated from Tel Aviv University, as well as advanced studies of chamber ica-Israel Cultural Foundation. he completed his musical training with Gregor Piatigorsky and music with the Guarneri Quartet in the U.S.A. Currently, he heads the Chamber Music De- Janos Starker. He has recorded for CDI, Israel (“The Heart of Cello”); for EMS, Belgium(“Festival partment at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv University. of the 20th Century”); for Beit Hatefutsot, Israel (In Hassidic Style); for Erasmus, Holland (Clarinet Trios with Camerata Trio); and for Eroica, USA (Beethoven works for Cello and Piano, complete).

Mr. Gruber plays a David Tecchler Cello made in Rome in 1706.