CD ECM Records Andras Schiff / Miklos Perenyi - Beethoven: Complete Music For Piano And Violoncello

Andras Schiff - pian
Miklos Perenyi - violoncel

“Beethoven’s five sonatas for piano and cello show in a nutshell the same evolution that the 32 piano sonatas show,” said András Schiff recently. “You have this wonderful young lion Beethoven in the opus 5 sonatas, you have the opus 69, the A major, which stands in the middle of his life, and then you have these wonderful two works, opus 102, which are at the gates of the late style, the last phase. And these are in a way experimental works, but fully crystallized.” Superbly played by Schiff and Miklós Perényi, these may be the definitive recordings of Beethoven’s music for piano and cello.

MIDEM Classical Award, Chamber Music category
Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Jahrespreis
Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Bestenliste 4/2004
Fono Forum, Empfehlung des Monats
Gramophone, Editor’s Choice
Stereophile, Recording of the month
Gramofon (Ungarn), Klassisches Album des Jahres

Manfred Eicher, the principled producer of the German-based ECM label, has an excellent instinct for knowing when particular artists have something fresh to say about familiar music, as with this set of the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven. … The performances are articulate, vigorous, elegant and free of agendas. Mr. Perenyi and Mr. Schiff include a rarity: the hardy Sonata in F, originally written for hunting horn. They also offer spirited performances of three sets of variations.
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times

The pairing of instrumental personalities is the source of the richness in these works and the key to their success in performance. And here these two Hungarians, both in their 50’s, seem to have found much common ground, both in their aggressive, assured playing and the way in which both men were obviously dedicated to bringing something new out of these very familiar works. …Another challenge is the notion that either the cello or the piano is meant to be the minor voice. … In this recording, both instrumentalists are equal partners; the balance in these surprisingly elegant interpretations is extraordinary. … As with all ECM recordings, the sound is full-range, crisp and defined – the sonorities of the cello have rarely been this well recorded.
Robert Baird, Stereophile

This is highly skilled music making, very European, very civilised, with impeccable ensemble; two experts and friends coming together to transport you back into Beethoven’s worl. The above are just some of the reasons why Perényi’s will become my favourite versions of these works. Another has to be the incredibly high quality of the recording, so crisp and clear; marvellous for all the runs and the intricacies of the three sets of variations.
Janet Banks, The Strad

It’s partly the partnership with Miklós Perényi that gives the music-making such sparkle and vitality, though those qualities are also very much apparent in the first two sonatas where the cello often takes a subordinate role. But there’s also a gripping sense of purpose, symphonic in essence, but never forgetting that this is chamber music: intimate and subtle in scale and detail.
Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine

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