Soloist: Rimmer, Nicholas

Soloist: Schwabe, Gabriel

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Composer: Beethoven, Ludwig van

Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 5, No. 2

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Date of Concert: 02-2023

Playing Time: 00:29:22

Catalogue Number: NVF1428

UPC: 730099642811

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When the famed double bassist Domenico Dragonetti performed the Cello Sonata, Op 5, No. 2, accompanied by Beethoven himself, he surprised the composer with the level of his playing to such a degree that at the end, Beethoven immediately leapt up to embrace both player and instrument. Dragonetti must have possessed extraordinary skill, for the cello part of this sonata requires great dexterity at times - though it by no means compares with the nimble fingers demanded of the pianist. If the introduction to the first cello sonata might be considered an augmented upbeat to its first theme, it is harder to put forth such an argument for the second sonata. At twice the duration it is, in effect, a movement in its own right. In character too, this Adagio differs from its somewhat hesitant predecessor: it is full of dramatic gestures, from the dark opening chords to the delicate, rather tragic descending scales in the right hand of the piano. There's an achingly poignant melodic line from the cello, and at the end, extended pauses generate a sense of tension as to what will come next.