[HanssoN]

Which are your favourite pieces for cello and/or violin? Any special artist/recording to recommend?

I myself like Yo-Yo Ma as a performer. His CD "Classic Yo-Yo" is one of my current favourites as it sounds excellent and gives you a taste of many different kinds of music for cello.

 

[Arzela]

Bach, Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin. Itzhak Perlman, EMI

Bach, Cello Suites (solo), M. Rostropovich, EMI

Beethoven, Sonatas for cello and piano, Ma/Ax, CBS

 

[jpelg]

I love the cello also, and am always interested in pieces written for this instrument. I really like the low-end range of this instrument.

Particularly pieces that are slow & simple - solos, or very few accompaniments. Emotional. Ranging from quietly contemplative, to sad (the best!), to darkly morose.

Specific suggestions?

 

[Arzela]

jpelg, the slow movements from the Bach cello set above
are quite good.

 

[MusicJunkie]

Its not cello or violin but I love Shostakovich's Sonata for Viola and Piano. Somber and brooding but outstanding.

MJ

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Somber and brooding but outstanding.

Love it! Will check these out.

Thanks guys. And keep 'em coming!

 

[FalconP]

Arpeggione Sonata by Schubert (D821): Not really written for the cello but often performed on it. My take is Rostropovich.

The Cello Suites by Benjamin Britten -- I have a Naxos disc of the music performed by Tim Hugh -- delicate, nocturnal music, folksy at times, but with a very dark undercurrent.

 

[KR...]

I have two CDs that I enjoy :

Beethoven - String Quartets Op. 127 in E-Flat Major, Op. 131 in C-Sharp Minor (Telarc)

Rachel Barton - Instrument Of The Devil

 

[daycart1]

What the others have said. Plus

Brahms Double Concerto (Violin and Cello)

For sombre, try the Brahms Cello Sonatas, especially #2.

 

[stuartr]

Well, I must reiterate Bach's Cello suites by Rostropovich -- IMO some of the best (if not the best) music ever written, and I think that Rostropovich's performance is the best I have ever heard. I also love Casals' and Fournier's versions.

Starker's recording of Kodaly's sonata for solo cello op8, also duo for violin and cello with Gringold.

Britten's cello suites are also very good.

Debussy's cello sonata is gorgeous.

Shostakovich's First cello concerto, also by Rostropovich, the US premiere recording with Ormandy is phatty.

I love Judith Ingolfsson's debut recording. I heard her play the Brahams sonata's in concert and she was fantastic, I picked up her recording and was blown away. I like her recording of Bach's 3rd violin sonata better than Heifetz's (!), and I also really like the Bloch and Rorem pieces. It is a good recording. Check it out. Anyway, those are some of my favorites...there are many more of course, but I will hold back.

edit: on the Britten suites, I own the Rostropovich (on London vinyl) and have heard the Hugh. Surprisingly, I like the Hugh better. He is more abrasive in his interpretation, which I think is something that these suites need. Rostropovich is almost trying to make them pretty or romantic, which IMO does not work at all. Still an excellent recording, but there is just something wrong in it...

 

[Wilson]

my favorites:

Bach, Cello suites, Rostropovich
Dvorak Cello Concerto, DuPre/Barenboim/Chicago Symphony
Saint-Saens Cello Concerto, Rostropovich/Giulini/London Phil.
Brahms, Sonata for Violin/Piano, Victoria Mullova/Anderszewski
Beethoven, Violin sonatas, Menuhin/Kempff
Brahms, Cello Sonatas, Rostropovich/Serkin
Beethoven Violin Concerto, Menuhin/Furtwangler
Schubert Arpeggione Sonata, Rostropovich/Britten



Enjoy,
W

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Schubert's 2nd Piano Trio (in E flat), Op. 100

[size=xx-small]Piano trio is violin, cello, and piano.[/size]

 

[Odi_et_Amo]

In addition to the above rec's, if you wanted to try out some 20th Century Cello works, Henri Dutilleux, Hans Werner Henze, George Crumb, György Ligeti, and Nicholas Bacri, can all be found on one $12 disc performed by Emmanuelle Bertrand.

It is a Harmonia Mundi release.


Les Nouveaux Interprètes / Emmanuelle Bertrand

 

[ilikemonkeys]

I am very surprised that no one has mentioned Elgar's cello concerto with Jacqueline du Pre? She was at he height of her career and only in the early twenties. A very emotional recording.

Bill

 

[Odi_et_Amo]

Quote:

Originally posted by ilikemonkeys I am very surprised that no one has mentioned Elgar's cello concerto with Jacqueline du Pre? She was at he height of her career and only in the early twenties. A very emotional recording. Bill

Yes, quite possibly the definitive recording. The filler is great, too: Janet Baker singing Sea Pictures.

My one problem: Don't you think it should be reissued at mid-price by now? It's certainly a contender for EMI's Great Recordings Series.