Felix Mendelssohn Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58
The work, which was dedicated to the Russian/Polish cellist Count Mateusz Wielhorski, has four movements:
Allegro assai vivace
Allegretto scherzando
Adagio
Molto allegro e vivace
Of particular interest is the Adagio, because it mirrors Mendelssohn's fascination with the music of J. S. Bach. (He was then musical director of the Gewandhaus concerts at Leipzig and, as such, Bach's distant successor.) The movement consists of a chorale in Bach's typical style, played by the piano in rich arpeggios. In between the phrases of the chorale, the cello plays recitative-like passages.
Antonio Meneses, cello
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| Detail of a watercolour of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig by Felix Mendelssohn (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
