The distinguished cellist Antonio
Meneses returns to Avie for this complete
set of Beethoven works, having already
recorded well-received discs of Bach,
Mendelssohn,
Schumann
and Schubert as soloist and with
pianist Gerard Wyss. Now he joins forces
with Menahem Pressler, a founding member
of the Beaux Arts trio, and a pianist
with about as much chamber music experience
as anyone on the planet. Meneses has
been a member of this trio since 1998,
so these players know each others style
and strengths very well indeed, and
this combination always has to be an
odds-on favourite for providing something
just a little bit special.
Receiving this release
was something of a surprise, as it isn’t
the kind of thing I normally make a
punt for when sifting through lists
of review discs. My shelves aren’t exactly
groaning with comparison discs, though
this is probably since I still have
a mint Philips LP box of Rostropovich
and Richter playing the Beethoven Sonatas
in 1961 - 835 182/83 AY for antique
number fans. This fabulous recording
is now available as a CD twofer, and
is still something of a benchmark in
this repertoire. My occasional thirst
for this music considered sated by this
proud relic of a bygone age, I’ve neglected
these works more than somewhat, but
find my interest re-invigorated by the
noble performances in this set.
Concise but useful
notes by Stephen Pettitt tell us most
and more of what any casual listener
needs to know about these pieces. The
earlier sonatas still possess a Haydnesque
grace, despite Beethoven’s reluctance
to cling onto convention. The harmonic
journeys many of these movements take
us on go beyond what would have been
expected for this kind of chamber music
and the very fact that Beethoven was
taking the cello as seriously as a solo
instrument as the violin is some kind
of break from a heritage which had very
little in the way of precedents – Mozart
and Haydn both scoring zero as far as
cello sonatas go. Both of these Op.5
sonatas receive sterling performances
over which I have no bones to pick.
What I like about the playing is that
both musicians, without restricting
anything by way of articulation or dynamic
contrast, nonetheless place these works
correctly as classical or post-classical
pieces, refusing to overcook the content
of the music simply because the scowling
bust of Beethoven is printed on the
cover. This is the younger, fresher
Beethoven, embarking on a voyage of
discovery – certainly with his own individual
foibles and handbook on musical fingerprints
and personality traits, but also a part
and partly a product of the times in
which he lived.
Disc 2 is the treasure
house which contains the Sonatas Op.
69, and the two Op.102 works. By 1808
Beethoven was well into the mature phase
which saw his fifth and sixth symphonies,
and as one might expect, the Sonata
Op.69 has outgrown the influence
of Haydn. The expressive melodies and
dramatic twists and turns are given
every ounce of song-like phrasing, caressing
and plunging by turns as is this were
the arrangement of a revolutionary opera
– aspects emphasised by moments of absolute
static repose which can surprise even
today.
The final Cello
Sonatas Op.102 were written at a
difficult time for Beethoven, and in
a period of relative creative austerity,
when among other things he was preoccupied
with the task of looking after his nephew
Karl. The moods and restless nature
of the music reflect Beethoven’s problematic
times with uncomfortable clarity, and
the duo on this recording pull no punches,
refusing to sweeten these often bitter
pills with soft-focus playing. I had
forgotten what a remarkable piece of
music Op.102/2 is. The booklet
notes describe it as "the composer
as self-analyst, the beginnings, one
might claim, of that movement which
reached its fruition in Mahler and even
Schoenberg." There is indeed a
sensation of the cat wrestling strenuously
inside its bag, if not entirely having
been let out. The D minor chorale might
see this analogy stretched as far as
Shostakovich’s Op.67 Piano Trio, the
solemn tread of its minor key possibly
standing for even more than the composer’s
own personal troubles. The musicians
here are sensitive to the glow shining
through in the central D major section
however – you can’t have shadow without
a source of light, after all. The finale
is a wild and eccentric foray into the
fugal world of the late quartets, and
comes across like a wounded but powerful
bird convinced it can still fly. I have
yet to have anyone convince me of the
intrinsic worth of these Beethovenian
grosse fuge experiments in extreme
counterpoint, but the music does hold
a strange, almost morbid fascination.
The Variations in this
set of works are anything but makeweights,
but are lighter in character to much
of the music in the sonatas. Beethoven
did as much to expand the boundaries
in the variation form as for the symphony,
sonata and concerto, but the cello and
piano variations seem more aimed at
filling a need for recreational music
than in the tumult of creation which
is the Diabelli Variations. Both
musicians delight in their joy at being
freed for a while from all that intensity
of expression, and their performances
are transparent and filled with light
and refreshing subtleties of contrast.
Menahem Pressler in particular has a
fine time with Beethoven’s piano writing,
which often seems to turn the cello
into a secondary accompanist, in the
Mozart Zauberflöte sets
in particular. The conclusion of this
programme with WoO46 is a master
stroke of programming after the turbulent
finale to the Op.102/2 Sonata,
and leaves us with a sense of healthy
wellbeing.
Anyone collecting other
discs from the Avie label with Antonio
Meneses will know what to expect from
the recording. The musicians are close,
but not uncomfortably so – the listener
is however certainly in the hot seat
in an audience of one. The gorgeous
Potton Hall acoustic lends its aura
to the playing, but is relatively unobtrusive
as a result of this intimacy. The detail
and colour of both instruments is audible
to the last drop of refinement, and
as a result is a joy from beginning
to end. I will of course be hanging
on to my Richter/Rostropovich LPs, but
having been dragged into the 21st
century by this younger generation of
musicians I don’t really feel the need
to explore very much further. I have
to admit to hearing just a little unevenness
on occasion in Menahem Pressler’s 83
year-old fingers, with some twiddly
bits like trills seeming slower by obligation
rather than intent. The returns in musicianship
however far outweigh any such comments,
and any fan of the kind of playing which
helped make the Beaux Arts Trio one
of the all-time finest teams in classical
music will want this disc. So, hands
up: who’s not a fan...?
Dominy Clements
for details
Menahem Pressler (piano) 
