Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Works (Remastered) Michal Kanka & Jaromir Klepac

• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40:
• 1 Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40: I. Allegro non troppo 11:35
• 2 Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40: II. Allegro 03:07
• 3 Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40: III. Largo 08:12
• 4 Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40: IV. Allegro 04:07
• Two Pieces for Cello and Piano (from the Second Ballet Suite):
• 5 Shostakovich: Two Pieces for Cello and Piano (from the Second Ballet Suite): I. Adagio 05:59
• 6 Shostakovich: Two Pieces for Cello and Piano (from the Second Ballet Suite): II. Spring Waltz 02:07
• Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 147:
• 7 Shostakovich: Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 147: I. Moderato (Novella) 08:37
• 8 Shostakovich: Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 147: II. Allegetto 06:53
• 9 Shostakovich: Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 147: III. Adagio (in memory of Beethoven) 13:16
• Total Runtime 01:03:53

Info for Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Works (Remastered)

Juxtaposition of a youthful, tumultuous and virtuoso sonata (1934), still influenced by Tchaikovsky and Miaskovsky, and his very last score (5 July 1975), for viola, a Winterreise of the composer through his own memories, ending with an homage to Beethoven. This crepuscular work blends direct quotations with parodical, sometimes even derisory, associations. Here, for the first time, it is played on the cello in its original tessitura. Two genre pieces illustrate the fabulous melodic ease of a composer obliged to write a large number film scores and incidental music during his ‘pariah’ period.

"If cellist Michal Kanka played with a little more muscle and pianist Jaromir Klepac with a little less, this might have been an entirely great recording of Shostakovich's works for cello and piano. The disc includes not only the Cello Sonata, Op. 40, but arrangements of the Adagio and Spring Waltz from the Second Ballet Suite, and the Sonata, Op. 147, originally written for viola. In the quiet, inward music -- the Op. 40's Largo and the outer movements of Op. 147 -- this is a great recording. Kanka's rich but incisive tone and his expressive phrasing get deep under the notes of the music, and his performances are comparable to the best since Rostropovich's. But in the loud, extroverted music, Kanka is too often overwhelmed by pianist Jaromir Klepac, a fine player who cannot quite restrain himself from covering his partner. Generally, the two work exceedingly well together, voicing chords, phrasing lines, and leaning into climaxes as a single unit, but Klepac too often nearly drowns Kanka out. In the ballet suite's Adagio, Kanka and Klepac couldn't be tighter, but Klepac just can't stop himself from swamping Kanka with his enormous chords. Praga could perhaps have helped this situation by bringing up the cello while turning down the piano, but the sound here, though clean and evocative, too strongly favors the piano." (James Leonard, AMG)

Michal Kanka, cello
Jaromír Klepác, piano

Digitally remastered

No biography found.

Booklet for Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Works (Remastered)