Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Complete Works for Cello & Piano

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The cello sonatas span Beethoven's entire career. The first two are "early", the third one "middle period", and the last two "late". They range from tuneful to abstract, but all are studded with luscious melody. I find it impossible to choose between this Fournier recording and the later one with Kempff. The sound here is crystal-clear, and the spirit of Beethoven hovers over the proceedings. Gulda points up the structure, Fournier provides the lyricism, and the music takes flight. Note that both sets include the three sets of variations, which are sheer fun.

Musically, cellist Pierre Fournier and pianist Friedrich Gulda, were the least likely couple ever to form a successful chamber music duo in the history of 20th Century classical music. Fournier's elegant, rhapsodic playing was firmly established within a "French school of cello-playing" that emphasized discretion and yielding from this distinguished artist, "so perfect a balance of registers, so immaculate a line" according to music critic Reinhard Beuth (from the liner notes of this two-CD set.). In stark contrast, Gulda's playing was more cerebral and indeed, visionary, in the sense that he was interested in adhering as close as possible to the composer's original intentions for the score, than by imposing his own idiosyncratic, romantic style on his playing (A performance style which has become quite popular amongst contemporary pianists.). And yet, Gulda was also a radical musically, by fully embracing jazz music, along with his keen interest in playing classical music composed by the likes of Mozart and Beethoven. Recorded in late June, 1959 by Deutsche Grammophon at Vienna's legendary Musikverein, this two-CD set is an excellent muscial testament to this unlikely chamber music duo, replete with some of the best performances ever recorded of Beethoven's cello sonatas and other works composed for the cello and piano (I'm not sure how well this two-CD set compares with Fournier's later recordings of these sonatas with pianist Wilhelm Kempff, but I do know that this set ought to be regarded as among the finest currently available of the Beethoven cello sonatas.). Although the sound quality hasn't been digitally enhanced via digital image bit remastering, it nonetheless sounds quite vivid and realistic, giving ample weight to both Fournier's cello and Gulda's piano; needless to say, this is yet another reason to acquire this fine two-CD set.

In breathtaking tonal beauty, Fournier and Gulda match and at times even exceed Rostropovich and Richter. One of the great chamber music recordings, in splendid 1959 stereo sound.

Friedrich Gulda, a 'cerebral' pianist with diabolic technique to burn, and abundant musical intelligence to boot, matches with the ethereally lyrical French cellist Pierre Fournier probably the first time in this recording.

The result is astonishingly outstanding.

The piano and cello balance out each other, complimenting each other, engage in intimate dialogue with each other in temperatures that are hot enough to set the listeners on fire, yet never too much to exasperate them.

And above all, the pairing of Fournier and Gulda here is also the pairing of the veteran and the newbie. Lively underpinnings with mellow overtones throughout. Simply listening that couldn't be more pleasurable.

Pierre Fournier sings better that all that sings and Friedrich Gulda's playing on a Bosendorfer piano is never harsh and overwhelming the cello. What might have been a strange reunion between the classical French tradition of cello and the modern school of piano is still a must, fifty years later.