Beethoven: Sonatas for Cello and Piano Leonard Elschenbroich & Alexei Grynyuk

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Cello Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5/1:
• 1 Cello Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5/1: I. Adagio sostenuto 03:05
• 2 Cello Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5/1: II. Allegro 14:16
• 3 Cello Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5/1: III. Rondo. Allegro vivace 07:07
• Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 5/2:
• 4 Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 5/2: I. Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo 06:00
• 5 Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 5/2: II. Allegro molto, più tosto presto 14:22
• 6 Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 5/2: III. Rondo. Allegro 08:24
• Cello Sonata in F Major, Op. 17:
• 7 Cello Sonata in F Major, Op. 17: I. Allegro moderato (Arr. From Horn Sonata) 05:29
• 8 Cello Sonata in F Major, Op. 17: II. Poco Adagio, quasi Andante (Arr. From Horn Sonata) 01:26
• 9 Cello Sonata in F Major, Op. 17: III. Rondo. Allegro moderato (Arr. From Horn Sonata) 04:46
• Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69:
• 10 Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69: I. Allegro ma non tanto 12:28
• 11 Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69: II. Scherzo. Allegro molto 05:19
• 12 Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69: III. Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivace 08:28
• Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102/1:
• 13 Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102/1: I. Andante 02:40
• 14 Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102/1: II. Allegro vivace 05:17
• 15 Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102/1: II. Adagio – Tempo d'andante 02:57
• 16 Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102/1: IV. Allegro vivace 04:20
• Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102/2:
• 17 Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102/2: I. Allegro con brio 06:41
• 18 Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102/2: II. Adagio con molto sentiment d'affetto 08:52
• 19 Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102/2: III. Allegro fugato 03:48
• Total Runtime 02:05:45

Info for Beethoven: Sonatas for Cello and Piano

The five cello sonatas span Beethoven’s three creative periods, with the audacious op.5 sonatas dating from the early years on his time in Vienna as a piano virtuoso and aspiring composer (1792-9), the great op.69 sonata is from the period that saw the composition of symphonies 4-8, the violin concerto, Mass in C and the String Quartets op59. The two op102 sonatas are from the cusp of the ‘late’ period, this is the time of the 9th Symphony, the Missa Solemnis, the great string quartets op127 – 135 and the last five piano sonatas.

The cello and piano are truly equal partners in all these works, and Beethoven exploited the full range of the cello placing great demands on the player. The op.17 sonatas from the 1790s was composed for horn and piano. The transcription is believed to be by the composer, or at least approved by him.

Leonard Elschenbroich, cello
Alexei Grynyuk, piano

Leonard Elschenbroich
Described by the New York Times as “a musician of great technical prowess, intellectual curiosity and expressive depth”, cellist Leonard Elschenbroich performs as a soloist with the world’s leading orchestras. He gave his Vienna Musikverein debut on a European Tour with the Staatskapelle Dresden, his US debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, his Asian debut at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and appears regularly at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms.

A committed performer of contemporary music, Elschenbroich has commissioned several new works from composers including Mark-Anthony Turnage, Luca Lombardi, Arlene Sierra and Suzanne Farrin. He gave the world premiere of Mark Simpson’s first Cello Concerto – written for him – with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Bridgewater Hall, and Brian Elias’ first Cello Concerto at the BBC Proms.

In 2012 he co-founded the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bolivia, the first orchestra to perform a Mahler Symphony in the nation’s history. Elschenbroich returns to Bolivia on a regular basis to lead educational projects and develop the orchestra. This commitment led Elschenbroich to explore the field of conducting with various orchestras across Latin America and the UK. He gave his London conducting debut, leading The Telegraph to write “Elschenbroich gave a performance of Brahms’ 1st Symphony that at times touched the heights.”

Elschenbroich has worked with a number of eminent conductors including Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Mark Elder, Charles Dutoit, Manfred Honeck, Kirill Karabits, Dmitri Kitajenko, Andrew Litton, Juanjo Mena, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, Vasily Sinasiky, and Edo De Waart. As soloist he has performed with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Royal Liverpool Phiharmonic, the Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Dresden Staatskapelle, Swedish Radio Symphony, Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Minnesota Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has made five appearances at the BBC Proms.

Elschenbroich’s first three albums for Onyx Classics focused on 20th century Russian repertoire, from Rachmaninov to Schnittke. 2016 saw the release of “Siécle”, a portrait of a century of French music from Saint-Saëns to Dutilleux, recorded with the BBC Scottish Symphony. They have received 5-star reviews from The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Financial Times, as well as receiving Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. This year, he will release, After a decade worldwide performances of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas together with Alexei Grynyuk, a recording will be released in 2019 for Onyx Classics, also available on vinyl.

His many awards include the Leonard Bernstein Award, Förderpreis Deutschlandfunk and Borletti Buitoni Trust Award. In 2012 he was named BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, he was Artist-in-Residence of Deutschlandfunk for the 2014-15 season, and Artist-in-Residence at the Philharmonic Society Bremen from 2013-2016.

Born in 1985 in Frankfurt, Elschenbroich received a scholarship, aged ten, to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. He later studied with Frans Helmerson at the Cologne Music Academy.

He plays a cello made by Matteo Goffriller "Leonard Rose" (Venice, 1693), on private loan.

Booklet for Beethoven: Sonatas for Cello and Piano