Dóra Kokas & Izabella Simon Presented by Liszt Academy

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3, written in 1807–1808. These years belonged to the composer’s middle creative period, which musicologists often refer to as his “heroic era.” This sonata shares its spirit and expressive depth with works such as the fifth and sixth symphonies and the “Appassionata” Sonata. Closing the first half of the concert is Robert Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, originally composed for horn and piano. However, Schumann himself added both cello and violin as alternative solo instruments when the work was published in 1849. The second half of the concert opens with another duo written specifically for cello and piano, also composed in 1849, and closely related in mood and texture to the Adagio and Allegro. The evening concludes with Johannes Brahms’s Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1, completed in 1865. It was dedicated to Josef Gänsbacher, a singing professor and amateur cellist. At the sonata’s premiere, Brahms himself accompanied Gänsbacher but grew so frustrated with his colleague’s lack of technical skill that he reportedly played the piano part with such force one could barely hear the cello at all.