Devour Music

Mischa Maisky (cello) and Martha Argerich (piano) deliver a deeply expressive performance of Edvard Grieg's Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36, blending passion and nuance. This stirring rendition was captured at the 2008 Verbier Festival.

(00:00) Coming on stage (00:15) I. Allegro agitato (09:36) II. Andante molto tranquillo (15:48) III. Allegro molto e marcato

Norway's Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was one of the main composers of the Romantic period.

• By incorporating folkloristic elements such as folk tunes and dances into his works, he developed the canon of Norwegian national music.
• Grieg was also influenced by the European composers of his time. On his extensive travels, he met Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) in person and established friendships with a number of musicians.
• Franz Liszt (1811-1886) even became his patron.

Grieg wrote the Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 in 1882/83 for both cello and piano.

• It remains his only work for this instrumentation.
• Already famous by that time, the Norwegian composer dedicated the Cello Sonata to his brother, John, who was not a professional musician but could play the cello very well.

The Cello Sonata premiered in Dresden on October 22, 1883, with Friedrich Ludwig Grützmacher on the cello.

• Grieg himself is said to have made several negative comments about this sonata. While composing it, he is said to have taken passages from his own earlier pieces and reworked them. In this respect, there is no musical progress in the Cello Sonata.

Some cellists regard Grieg's Cello Sonata, Op. 36 as something for insiders.

• Yet it is full of emotional depth and versatility. While the first movement exudes a certain drama, the mood shifts to melancholy in the second movement.
• The third movement counters this with a wild dance, which in turn is characterized by a cheerful mood.

This performance shows just how rousing Edvard Grieg's Cello Sonata can be. Mischa Maisky even has to wipe droplets of perspiration from his cello.

• The Sonata for Cello and Piano is chamber music at its finest.

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