You have to give German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich points for versatility: the two sonatas included on this album, though both Russian and both composed in the 20th century, are about as different in mood as two pieces of music can be. Shostakovich's Viola Sonata, Op. 147, was his last work, and it ends in a striking tableau of bleakness. In the extraordinarily controlled performance by Elschenbroich and pianist Alexei Grynyuk, it is as if life itself is ebbing away at the end of the Adagio finale. There are performances ...
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You have to give German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich points for versatility: the two sonatas included on this album, though both Russian and both composed in the 20th century, are about as different in mood as two pieces of music can be. Shostakovich's Viola Sonata, Op. 147, was his last work, and it ends in a striking tableau of bleakness. In the extraordinarily controlled performance by Elschenbroich and pianist Alexei Grynyuk, it is as if life itself is ebbing away at the end of the Adagio finale. There are performances of this work that have the more characteristically Russian Shostakovich mode, but in this case the more neutral tone is correct: the work is suffused with the spirit of Beethoven, quotes the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27/2 ("Moonlight"), and has a great deal in common with the grim and at times bleakly humorous String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, which was likewise Beethoven's last work. The arrangement for cello by Daniel Shafran was supervised by Shostakovich...
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