There are now quite
a large number of excellent sets of
Beethoven’s music for cello and piano
in the catalogue, and it’s easy to see
why it appeals to artists and record
companies. Aside from the quality of
the music, which at its best is inspired,
it is a relatively cheap project which
neatly gets the complete output onto
two well-filled discs. So the competition
for this newcomer from ECM is pretty
stiff – Richter/Rostropovich, Barenboim/du
Pré, Maisky/Argerich, Fournier/Kempff,
Solomon/Piatigorsky – you get the idea.
The list goes on. In fact, it’s fair
to say that most of the great cellists
of the last fifty years have recorded
at least the five sonatas.
Taking this new set
on its own terms, any prospective purchaser
is unlikely to be disappointed. Both
these musicians are chamber players
of the utmost distinction, and have
played together many times, in latter
years performing these very works. And
it shows. The phrasing throughout is
sensitively and supply moulded. With
tempi generally on the relaxed side,
Beethoven’s singing lines are made to
contrast with the darker shifts in mood
and harmony. This deeper approach does
tend to come at the expense of some
humour, especially in the earlier sonatas.
I can imagine a more sprightly, cheeky
finale to, say, the F Major Op.1. This
can be heard in the version provided
by the Emerson Quartet’s cellist David
Finckel and his partner Wu Han on the
internet-only label ArtistLed.com, though
even here there is a strong, heroic
stamina that compensates.
Where Schiff and Perényi
really come into their own is in the
later, greater music. Here, one can
lose oneself in playing of great artistry
and profundity. With the ‘heroic period’
Sonata in A Major, Op.69, we get the
feeling that the broad opening melody
has a long-breathed Romanticism that
is totally in keeping with the grandeur
and importance of the piece. Beethoven
was, by now, giving the solo instrument
greater prominence, exploiting its sonorities,
making the partnership more a battle
of equals. The lovely passage in the
development section (track 2, 6’03)
where the composer explores new harmonic
areas, shows both players alive to the
rhapsodic, mystical elements in the
music. The complex thematic material
and structure of both Op.102 Sonatas
again reveal these musicians’ sheer
intelligence in matters of phrasing.
Listen to Schiff’s weighting of the
thickly-written piano chords in the
adagio of the D Major, music that evokes
images worthy of a Mahlerian funeral
march.
This is altogether
outstandingly intense playing, and is
given a warm, fairly close recording
that suits the performances well. ECM’s
presentation is typically classy, with
a long, thought-provoking essay by Martin
Meyer entitled ‘A Dialogue through all
the Tones: Beethoven as Chamber Musician’,
and a shorter, more philosophical one
by Peter Esterházy called ‘Two,
three faces’. You may get more fire
and brimstone elsewhere, but the wisdom
and sheer good taste of this music-making
will have rewards long into the future.
Tony Haywood
Miklós Perényi (cello) 
