Cello & Piano: Three „Classics“

Preface

It was an opportunity begging to be seized: the large concert grand in Irmler Music Hall at Bamberg University happened to be available, there were no tours or concert obligations, the Christmas break still reigned at Freiburg University of Music, and studio engineer Markus Gottschall had time over the holidays to record our playing with his mobile equipment. In no time at all we agreed to capture the stages of our joint musical discoveries. Our artistic collaboration began with the Beethoven sonata, where we discovered new things at every turn. So we decided it should stand at the head of our recording. Chopin is a stroke of luck for us in a completely different way. Actually he is renowned for his unique stature as the piano composer par excellence, with a universe of sound all his own. The Chopin repertoire strikes envy in the heart of every non-pianist. His Cello Sonata, one of the very few pieces of chamber music that he composed at all, provides a unique opportunity to plunge into this special musical cosmos with a melody instrument on a par with the pianists. Debussy again offers completely different timbres, though not as program music. His sonata, with its lithe and playful language and free form, stands equidistant from the Beethoven and Chopin pieces and forges them into a unified whole. Besides Markus Gottschall, we wish to thank Josef Meingast for tuning the Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand for our recordings and for tending it during the sessions; the University, especially Dr. Dagmar Steuer-Flieser (chancellor) and Prof. Dr. Stefan Hörmann (Institute of Music Education), for their great hospitality; and honorary senator Bärbel Irmler, the donor of this superb concert grand.