There is no single radical departure in these performances of
Brahms
' two sonatas for cello and piano and
Schumann
's
Fünf Stücke im Volkston, Op. 102
. Instead, what happens is that various factors come together in performances of rare variety and intensity. Cellist
Christian Poltéra
and pianist
Ronald Brautigam
have worked together before and have evolved into a chamber music unit of great cohesion.
Brautigam
plays a copy of an 1868
Streicher
piano; it is not exactly a historical instrument, but it has a precise, penetrating quality that suits the interpretation here beautifully.
Póltera
has a deep understanding of these works, offering readings that bring out the full range of the music's expressive traits. The
Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38
, loses its usual dour, growling quality; sample the exuberant finale. It has been suggested that the word "Volkston" in
Fünf Stücke im Volkston
might better be translated as "popular style" than "folk style"; annotator
Michael Struck
suggests that the pieces are related to
's sympathy for the republican movements of 1848, and
imbues them with rare depth and lyricism. Of course, another side of
is the intellectual complexity that gives one the delightful suspicion that one will never emerge from the thicket. The opening material of the
Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99
, has very rarely seemed so pregnant with implications and had those implications so deeply worked out. There are many available performances of all these works (perhaps a bit fewer of the
), but these are marvelous and worth hearing for anyone. This release made classical best-seller lists in early 2024. ~ James Manheim