Edgar Moreau, David Kadouch: Théâtre des Champs‐Elysées

About the Event

While his piano concertos are staples of the symphonic repertoire, Rachmaninoff's chamber music catalog remains relatively unknown. The two cello pieces on this evening's program are therefore most welcome. His style, romantic in essence, reflects his introverted personality. His Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 19, undoubtedly the best‐known piece in his catalog, dates from the summer of 1901 and is contemporary with his Second Piano Concerto. Although the cello was not his favorite instrument, the composer manages to highlight its exceptional nuances and creates a rich dialogue between the two instruments. Our two instrumentalists remain in Slavic territory for an excerpt from Dvořák's Gypsy Songs, originally composed for piano and tenor voice, in which the cello subtly replaces the human voice.
Like Rachmaninov, Chopin wrote very little for the cello, yet this Sonata Op. 65 is one of the great works written for the instrument and is every bit as good as those by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, or Brahms. We are grateful to Edgar Moreau and David Kadouch for immersing us in these works, which are too rarely performed in concert.