Mendelssohn in Bloomington, MN

A good chunk of the 19th century repertory for cello and piano was composed by
Felix Mendelssohn
, and grateful duos have responded with a good many recordings even during the years when
Mendelssohn
was out of fashion. This one by cellist
Sol Gabetta
and pianist
Bertrand Chamayou
can stand with the best of them.
Gabetta
and
Chamayou
have performed together for almost two decades, and it shows in their rendition of the youthful and enthusiastic
Variations concertantes
, with its shifts of mood and texture. There is an unusual piece here (the recently discovered
Assai tranquillo
) and the performances of the two hugely contrasting cello sonatas are very strong, with the almost neoclassical
Cello Sonata No. 1, Op. 45
, and the Romantic, stormy
Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 58
, emerging with vivid individuality and a fine sense of the composer's idiomatic cello writing (
's brother was a cellist) from
. Another distinctive feature here is the set of contemporary pieces on the second CD in the physical version, commissioned by the performers with a request to respond to
's
Songs without Words
in some way. It is not completely clear that this works;
, one of which is included here, proceeded from different aesthetic bases than those of
Wolfgang Rihm
Jörg Widmann
. However,
gets a real virtuoso vehicle in the
Lieder ohne Worte II
excerpts by
Heinz Holliger
and succeeds with it. In general, the music-making here is committed, sensitive, and often enough humorous; it will please any lover of
or the cello. The album made classical best-seller lists in early 2024. ~ James Manheim