Beethoven - Cello Sonatas op.102, Bagatelles opp. 119 & 126
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Label: Harmonia Mundi
Cat No: HMM902429
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Release Date: 10th June 2022
Contents
Works
Bagatelles (6), op.126Bagatelles (11), op.119
Cello Sonata no.4 in C major, op.102 no.1
Cello Sonata no.5 in D major, op.102 no.2
Artists
Andreas Staier (fortepiano)Roel Dieltiens (cello)
Works
Bagatelles (6), op.126Bagatelles (11), op.119
Cello Sonata no.4 in C major, op.102 no.1
Cello Sonata no.5 in D major, op.102 no.2
Artists
Andreas Staier (fortepiano)Roel Dieltiens (cello)
About
Beethoven constantly tested to the limit the forms he had inherited from Haydn and Mozart.
His last two Cello Sonatas bear witness to this structural preoccupation, which was to open up so many new spaces… as do the final sets of Bagatelles, as disconcerting as they are innovative.
Two genres shrewdly linked by Andreas Staier and Roel Dieltiens in these interpretations, in which eloquence merges with historically informed performance practice.
His last two Cello Sonatas bear witness to this structural preoccupation, which was to open up so many new spaces… as do the final sets of Bagatelles, as disconcerting as they are innovative.
Two genres shrewdly linked by Andreas Staier and Roel Dieltiens in these interpretations, in which eloquence merges with historically informed performance practice.
Sound/Video
Paused
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101 - Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102 No. 1 - I. Andante - Allegro vivace
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202 - Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102 No. 1 - II. Adagio - Tempo d'andante - Allegro vivace
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303 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.1, Allegretto (G Minor)
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404 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.2, Andante con moto (C Major)
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505 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.3, À l'Allemande (D Major)
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606 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.4, Andante cantabile (A Major)
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707 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.5, Risoluto (C Minor)
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808 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.6, Andante - Allegretto (G Major)
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909 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.7, Allegro, ma non troppo (C Major)
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1010 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.8, Moderato cantabile (C Major)
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1111 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.9, Vivace moderato (A Minor)
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1213 - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119 - No.11, Andante ma non troppo (B-Flat Major)
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1314 - Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102 No. 2 - I. Allegro con brio
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1415 - Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102 No. 2 - II. Adagio con molto sentimento d'affetto
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1516 - Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102 No. 2 - III. Allegro - Allegro fugato
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1617 - 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126 - No.1, Andante con moto, cantabile e compiacevole (G Major)
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1718 - 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126 - No.2, Allegro (G Minor)
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1819 - 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126 - No.3, Andante, cantabile e grazioso (E-Flat Major)
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1920 - 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126 - No.4, Presto (B Minor)
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2021 - 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126 - No.5, Quasi allegretto (G Major)
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2122 - 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126 - No.6, Presto - Andante amabile e con moto (E-Flat Major)
Europadisc Review
For the latest instalment in Harmonia Mundi’s ‘Beethoven 2020/2027’ edition, renowned fortepianist Andreas Staier and period cellist Roel Dieltiens present a programme alternating the composer’s last two Cello Sonatas with his last two sets of Bagatelles. The pairing may raise some eyebrows, but between them these works provide a fascinating window onto Beethoven’s late style, and – although all these works have already appeared in earlier instalments of this unique series (the Bagatelles from Paul Lewis, the Cello Sonatas in a bumper box of piano trios and duo sonatas from the Faust-Queyras-Melnikov team) – the use here of period instruments brings special insights into the late Beethovenian soundworld. Staier uses a 1996 Christopher Clarke copy of an 1827 fortepiano by Conrad Graf, while Dieltiens plays a 1994 Martin Cornelissen copy of a Stradivarius cello, with a 2003 Henk Cornelissen copy of a bow by John Dodd (1752–1839).
Among the special features of late Beethoven is the sense of formal fluidity, something much in evidence in the C major cello Sonata, op.102 no.1. Its two-movement template actually contains no fewer than five sections distinguished by tempo, and the re-emergence of the opening Andante between the Adagio that starts the second movement and the concluding Allegro vivace also imparts a cyclical feel which brings with it a unifying force to set against the music’s often highly provisional nature. In the initial Andante, the sense of a partnership of equals and the perfect balance of the period instruments enhances the feeling of two players ‘communing’, and the timbral edginess brings enormous vitality to the following A minor Allegro vivace. There’s an extraordinary range and variety of tone in the Adagio that opens the second half of the work, enhancing the exploratory nature so typical of Beethoven’s late style. Beethoven never allows things to ‘settle’ in this music, and Staier and Dieltiens keep the listeners on their toes right up to the headlong final rush.
Superficially at least, the D minor Cello Sonata, op.102 no.2, has a more straightforward feel, with its clear three-movement layout of two fast outer movements enclosing a central Adagio, but the bursts of fitful energy and rumbling lower textures in the opening Allegro con brio immediately dispel any ideas of an easy ride. The first eight bars of the Adagio have a chorale-like atmosphere to them, and it turns out that they are only a prelude to the melodic lines that are then unfurled. Anyone doubting the particular qualities that period instruments that period instruments can bring to this music should listen to the closing bars of this Adagio: a remarkably rapt yet focussed stillness comes over the music in the sempre pianissimo before the Allegro transition to the concluding Allegro fugato. The latter is notable as the first manifestation of Beethoven’s late predilection for counterpoint. Given the impeccable Bachian credentials of both these performers, it’s no surprise that the contrapuntal strands emerge with such clarity as well as Beethovenian resolve, while the pedal notes look towards both Beethoven’s own Missa solemnis and Brahms’s German Requiem.
A Brahms connection is also evident in the two sets of Bagatelles, miniature jewels which often anticipate Brahms’s own late piano works, as well as Schumann’s mastery of small forms. Although the eleven Bagatelles of op.116 were published in 1822, the first five date from some two decades earlier. Staier brings a marvellous lightness of touch and texture to such numbers as the second and third (the latter an engaging Allemande with beautifully ringing top Ds). He’s not averse to adding occasional extra ornamentation or spread chords, and in the Risoluto of no.5 he brings rhetorical ‘weight’ and dynamic inflection to certain chords, yet it’s all done with an immense feeling of style and taste.
From no.6 onwards we are very much in Beethoven’s late style, and in this performance in particular it’s like hearing the composer test out ideas at the keyboard, in a quasi-improvisatory manner, with the music concentrated into short timespans. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it no.10, with its fast-moving rhythmic trickery, ends with an almighty bang from the Graf instrument’s Turkish janissary pedal. Even the beatific, hymn-like final Andante ma non troppo (prototypical of many of Beethoven’s late slow movements), marked ‘Innocentemente e cantabile’, has a provisional feel to it, however beautifully it rounds off the set.
Dating from two years later, the six Bagatelles of op.126 have always been regarded as more successful as a unified set, and once again their performance on a ‘period’ instrument brings special delights. The Bachian echoes of the opening semiquavers of no.2 in G minor are emphasised, while Staier’s special way of letting one chord ‘bleed’ into another with the pedal is evident, for example, at the end of the E flat Andante, cantabile e grazioso of no.3. In the B minor Presto (no.4) there’s a nicely-deployed bassoon stop on the repeat of the second section, which brings extra contrast with the pure-toned, drone-underpinned maggiore section. The Quasi allegretto no.5 again has a beatific feel to it. In the closing number, its brusque outer Presto bars enclosing a relaxed central Andante amabile e con moto, Staier creates some wonderfully mysterious murky textures in the Andante’s second half. This is a performance to savour again and again, and the disc as a whole is a most impressive addition to this endlessly rewarding series.
Among the special features of late Beethoven is the sense of formal fluidity, something much in evidence in the C major cello Sonata, op.102 no.1. Its two-movement template actually contains no fewer than five sections distinguished by tempo, and the re-emergence of the opening Andante between the Adagio that starts the second movement and the concluding Allegro vivace also imparts a cyclical feel which brings with it a unifying force to set against the music’s often highly provisional nature. In the initial Andante, the sense of a partnership of equals and the perfect balance of the period instruments enhances the feeling of two players ‘communing’, and the timbral edginess brings enormous vitality to the following A minor Allegro vivace. There’s an extraordinary range and variety of tone in the Adagio that opens the second half of the work, enhancing the exploratory nature so typical of Beethoven’s late style. Beethoven never allows things to ‘settle’ in this music, and Staier and Dieltiens keep the listeners on their toes right up to the headlong final rush.
Superficially at least, the D minor Cello Sonata, op.102 no.2, has a more straightforward feel, with its clear three-movement layout of two fast outer movements enclosing a central Adagio, but the bursts of fitful energy and rumbling lower textures in the opening Allegro con brio immediately dispel any ideas of an easy ride. The first eight bars of the Adagio have a chorale-like atmosphere to them, and it turns out that they are only a prelude to the melodic lines that are then unfurled. Anyone doubting the particular qualities that period instruments that period instruments can bring to this music should listen to the closing bars of this Adagio: a remarkably rapt yet focussed stillness comes over the music in the sempre pianissimo before the Allegro transition to the concluding Allegro fugato. The latter is notable as the first manifestation of Beethoven’s late predilection for counterpoint. Given the impeccable Bachian credentials of both these performers, it’s no surprise that the contrapuntal strands emerge with such clarity as well as Beethovenian resolve, while the pedal notes look towards both Beethoven’s own Missa solemnis and Brahms’s German Requiem.
A Brahms connection is also evident in the two sets of Bagatelles, miniature jewels which often anticipate Brahms’s own late piano works, as well as Schumann’s mastery of small forms. Although the eleven Bagatelles of op.116 were published in 1822, the first five date from some two decades earlier. Staier brings a marvellous lightness of touch and texture to such numbers as the second and third (the latter an engaging Allemande with beautifully ringing top Ds). He’s not averse to adding occasional extra ornamentation or spread chords, and in the Risoluto of no.5 he brings rhetorical ‘weight’ and dynamic inflection to certain chords, yet it’s all done with an immense feeling of style and taste.
From no.6 onwards we are very much in Beethoven’s late style, and in this performance in particular it’s like hearing the composer test out ideas at the keyboard, in a quasi-improvisatory manner, with the music concentrated into short timespans. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it no.10, with its fast-moving rhythmic trickery, ends with an almighty bang from the Graf instrument’s Turkish janissary pedal. Even the beatific, hymn-like final Andante ma non troppo (prototypical of many of Beethoven’s late slow movements), marked ‘Innocentemente e cantabile’, has a provisional feel to it, however beautifully it rounds off the set.
Dating from two years later, the six Bagatelles of op.126 have always been regarded as more successful as a unified set, and once again their performance on a ‘period’ instrument brings special delights. The Bachian echoes of the opening semiquavers of no.2 in G minor are emphasised, while Staier’s special way of letting one chord ‘bleed’ into another with the pedal is evident, for example, at the end of the E flat Andante, cantabile e grazioso of no.3. In the B minor Presto (no.4) there’s a nicely-deployed bassoon stop on the repeat of the second section, which brings extra contrast with the pure-toned, drone-underpinned maggiore section. The Quasi allegretto no.5 again has a beatific feel to it. In the closing number, its brusque outer Presto bars enclosing a relaxed central Andante amabile e con moto, Staier creates some wonderfully mysterious murky textures in the Andante’s second half. This is a performance to savour again and again, and the disc as a whole is a most impressive addition to this endlessly rewarding series.
Reviews
Occasionally a historically informed performance comes along that alters your perception of a work not just on modern instruments but on early ones, too. Staier and Dieltiens do exactly this in a recording that showcases Beethoven at his most radical as he moves into his ‘late’ period. The two last cello sonatas are here interspersed with the last two sets of Bagatelles, in performances of consummate subtlety and naturalness, exquisite blend and balance. Michelle AssayGramophone August 2022
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