TWO INSTRUMENTS, TWO DECADES, TWO CELLO SONATAS
SINGULAR BRAHMS
A period of twenty-one years separates Brahms’ two Cello Sonatas. Suffused with lyricism and expressive ardour, the First has become one of his most popular chamber works. The Second is more sober and succinct than the earlier work, yet strikingly original not least for the wide range required of the cellist to reach unusually high notes from the very low register. Chosen to suit the cello’s particular colour and articulation, the six songs are heard in idiomatic and sensitive arrangements which stay as close as possible to the originals.
TRACKLIST:
- Sonata for Piano and Cello in E minor, Op. 38
- Sonata for Piano and Cello in F major, Op. 99
- Six Lieder (transcr. for cello and piano by Gabriel Schwabe and Nicholas Rimmer)*
* WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS
Sonata for Piano and Cello in E minor, Op. 38
About Gabriel Schwabe
Gabriel Schwabe has established himself among the leading cellists of his generation. He is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, including the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann and the Concours Rostropovich in Paris. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, London, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, with conductors including Marek Janowski, Eivind Gullberg-Jensen, Dennis Russell-Davies, Cornelius Meister and Michael Sanderling. In 2010 Gabriel Schwabe gave his recital début at London’s Wigmore Hall. He studied with Catalin Ilea in Berlin and with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy, and received further stimulus from János Starker, Gary Hoffmann and Gidon Kremer.
About Nicholas Rimmer
Nicholas Rimmer studied at Clare College, Cambridge as well as in Hanover, Berlin and Cologne. As a pianist with a particular focus on chamber music and the song repertoire, he has appeared at major venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Tonhalle Zurich, Berlin Philharmonie, Laeiszhalle Hamburg and the Gasteig Munich, and has performed as a soloist with the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the Heidelberger Symphoniker. This is his second recording for Naxos following his acclaimed recording with Tianwa Yang of the complete works for violin and piano of Wolfgang Rihm (8.572730), which received a Diapason d’Or, a Pizzicato Supersonic Award and an International Record Review ‘Outstanding’ Award. Other musicians with whom Nicholas Rimmer regularly collaborates with include Maximilian Hornung, Christiane Iven, Nils Mönkemeyer, Lena Neudauer, Anna Lucia Richter, Gabriel Schwabe and Jakob Spahn.