Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 19 | Trio Élégiaque No. 1 by Ella van Poucke | Caspar Vos

Sergei Rachmaninov, Maxim Shalygin

Ella van Poucke | Caspar Vos | Niek Baar

Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 19 | Trio Élégiaque No. 1

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917293029
Catnr: CC 72930
Release date: 10 February 2023
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917293029

Catalogue number
CC 72930

Release date
10 February 2023

"Not only is the performance of these works fascinating, the audio quality is also striking with a perfect balance between the piano, the violin and Ella's often deep growling cello."

Music Emotion, 01-4-2023

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

Rachmaninov's ten chamber works, two of them left incomplete, all date from his late teens or early twenties. The 2 Pieces, Op 2 - Prélude and Danse orientale for cello and piano – date from 1891-2.

The most widely performed of Rachmaninov's chamber compositions is the Cello Sonata. Rachmaninov completed this sonata in November 1901. On 2nd December the composer and the celebrated cellist Anatoly Brandukov, to whom the work is dedicated, gave the premiere in Moscow. Rachmaninov's sonata is a gem of the cello-sonata repertoire.

The first of Rachmaninov's two works entitled Trio élégiaque is believed to date from 1890-1. The manuscript bears the dates 18-21 January 1892, but it has been suggested that this probably refers to a late revision which he made before the premiere that month. Though the work of a teenager, this single-movement trio has some characteristic touches which anticipate Rachmaninov's mature style, while the confident piano-writing reflects his burgeoning virtuosity The influence of Tchaikovsky upon Rachmaninov's trio is evident.

The Ukrainian-Dutch composer Maxim Shalygin was born in Kamianske in 1985. He composed his Tristissima for Ella van Poucke. Shalygin has commented: “Certainly this is an unacceptable beauty today, one that can be on the borderline of vulgarity, while at the same time opening us up to some feelings that we often shy away from ourselves.”

Vooraanstaand celliste Ella van Poucke speelt op haar nieuwe album, samen met pianist Caspar Vos, kamermuziek van Rachmaninov en de Oekraïens-Nederlandse componist Maxim Shalygin. In 2023 is het 150 jaar geleden dat Sergei Rachmaninov werd geboren. Deze opname is een prachtig eerbetoon aan de virtuoze componist.

Op het album van Challenge Classics, staan onder meer Rachmaninovs beroemde Sonate voor cello en piano op. 19 en zijn eerste pianotrio: Trio Élégiaque No. 1, waarin niemand minder dan de charismatische violist Niek Baar meespeelt. Het album kreeg al snel twee 4-sterren recensies in De Volkskrant en de Belgische De Standaard.

De Volkskrant: "Hier doorkruisen cellist Ella van Poucke en pianist Caspar Vos de symfonische breedte van zijn Cellosonate in een uitvoering die geheel intuïtief klinkt en tegelijk vol diepgang. Fantastisch hoe ze almaar hun klankkleur op elkaar afstemmen en tussen vurige opwelling en virtuoze uitbarsting nostalgie en tederheid laten glinsteren.”
De Standaard: "Met haar weelderige klank, zorgt ze ervoor dat de cello in je huid lijkt te kruipen. Je versmelt, net als zij als uitvoerder, met het instrument.”

De tien kamerwerken van Rachmaninov, waarvan er twee incompleet bleven, dateren allemaal uit zijn late tienerjaren of zijn vroege twintiger jaren. De twee stukken, Op. 2 Prélude en Danse orientale voor cello en piano, dateren uit 1891/1892. De meest uitgevoerde kamermuziek compositie van Rachmaninov is zijn Cellosonate. Een juweel uit het cellosonate repertoire. Rachmaninov voltooide deze sonate in november 1901. Op 2 december van dat jaar gaven de componist en de gevierde cellist Anatoli Brandoekov, aan wie het werk is opgedragen, de première in Moskou.

Het eerste van Rachmaninovs twee werken Trio Élégiaque zou dateren uit 1890/1891. Het manuscript draagt de data 18-21 januari 1892, maar de gedachte bestaat dat dit waarschijnlijk verwijst naar een latere herziening die hij vóór de première die maand maakte. Hoewel het werk van een tiener, kent het mooie eendelige pianotrio enkele karakteristieke accenten waarin Rachmaninovs latere componeerstijl doorklinkt. Zijn zelfverzekerde partituur voor de piano duidt op zijn ontluikende virtuositeit. Tsjaikovski’s pianotrio heeft overduidelijk als voorbeeld gediend.

Als bonus voegde Ella van Poucke een stuk toe van de in 1985 in Kamianske geboren Oekraïense componist Maxim Shalygin. Hij componeerde zijn ontroerende ‘Tristissima’ speciaal voor Ella en beschouwt het als een van zijn meest geslaagde werken.

Rachmaninovs zehn Kammermusikwerke, von denen zwei unvollendet geblieben sind, stammen alle aus seinen späten Jugendjahren oder frühen Zwanzigern. Die beiden Stücke op. 2 - Prélude und Danse Orientale für Cello und Klavier - stammen aus den Jahren 1891-2.
Die meistaufgeführte Kammermusikkomposition Rachmaninovs ist die Cellosonate. Rachmaninow vollendete diese Sonate im November 1901. Am 2. Dezember fand die Uraufführung durch den Komponisten und den berühmten Cellisten Anatoli Brandukow, dem das Werk gewidmet ist, in Moskau statt. Rachmaninows Sonate ist ein Juwel des Cello-Sonatenrepertoires.
Das erste der beiden Werke Rachmaninovs mit dem Titel Trio élégiaque stammt vermutlich aus den Jahren 1890-1. Das Manuskript trägt die Daten 18-21 Januar 1892, aber es wird vermutet, dass es sich dabei um eine späte Überarbeitung handelt, die er vor der Uraufführung im selben Monat vornahm. Obwohl es das Werk eines Heranwachsenden ist, weist dieses einsätzige Trio einige charakteristische Züge auf, die Rachmaninovs reifen Stil vorwegnehmen, während der selbstbewusste Klaviersatz seine aufkeimende Virtuosität widerspiegelt.
Der ukrainisch-niederländische Komponist Maxim Shalygin wurde 1985 in Kamianske geboren. Er komponierte seine Tristissima für Ella van Poucke. Shalygin kommentierte: "Sicherlich ist das heute eine inakzeptable Schönheit, eine, die an der Grenze zur Vulgarität liegen kann, während sie uns gleichzeitig für einige Gefühle öffnet, vor denen wir selbst oft zurückschrecken."

Artist(s)

Ella van Poucke (cello)

Born in Amsterdam in 1994, she is one of the leading cellists of her generation. Praised for her musical integrity, flawless instrumental abilities as well as her performing presence and intensity, the 28 year old Dutch cellist belongs to the top rank of today’s generation of cellists. She is the winner of the prestigious Premio Chigiana 2017, the first prize winner of the International Isang Yun cello competition 2015, Grachtenfestival Prize, the Leopoldinum Award 2015, Prix Nicolas Firmenich 2013, Elisabeth Everts Award 2014, Prix Academie Maurice Ravel 2012, Dutch Musician of the Year 2012, first prize winner of the 2008 Princess Christina Competition and recipient of the special prize in “recognition of an outstanding performance at the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann 2014.
After making her debut at the Concertgebouw at the age of 10 she has been performing in all the major halls of the Netherlands, in many top halls in Europe and in the U.S and Asia.
As a soloist Ella has performed with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, HR-Sinfonie Orchester, Brussels Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rotterdam Philharmonic Strings, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Orchestre della Toscana, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Havana Youth Orchestra, Varsovia Chamber Orchestra, Symfonie Orchestra of Vlaanderen Polish Chamber Orchestra, Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Hamburger Camerata, Tongyeong Festival Orchestra and collaborated with artists as Michael Sanderling and Christoph Eschenbach among others.
In November 2012 she premiered a new cello concerto, which was written for her by the Finnish composer Uljas Pulkkis during the International Cello Biennale in Amsterdam. In September 2013 she premiered the same work in Germany at the Kronberg Festival, with members of the HR-Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt. Ella regularly appears on Dutch Radio and Television and has performed for ARTE TV in Germany and France. She appeared in Germany’s “Stars von Morgen” hosted by Rolando Villazon.
As a passionate chamber musician Ella has performed with Andras Schiff, Gary Hoffman, Nobuko Imai, Tabea Zimmermann, Christian Tetzlaff, Viviane Hagner, Gidon Kremer, Colin Carr, Pavel Vernikov, Andreas Reiner, Vilde Frang, Simone Lamsma, Christiaan Bor, Philippe Graffin, Prazak quartet, Schumann quartett among many others. Since many years she regularly performs in recital with pianist Jean-Claude vanden Eynden and with her brother Nicolas van Poucke.
She has been guest in numerous international festivals such as Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Krzyzowa Music, Chigiana International Festival, Kaposfest Hungary, Internationaal Kamermuziek Festival Utrecht, Grachten Festival Amsterdam, Kronberg Festival, Cello Biennale Amsterdam and was invited to participate in Verbier Festival Academy in 2009, 2013 and 2014.
As a Dutch ‘Rising Star’ Ella was invited to give two Carte Blanche concerts in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 2013-14. In the summer of 2017 she was Artist in Residence with the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands and in August 2018 Ella was Artist in Residence of the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam. In 2019 Ella performed the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam together with her brother Nicolas among other venues. In 2018 she toured with all the Bach suites.
This year she is Artist in Residence at the Avrotros Vrijdagconcert where she will perform several times with the Radio Filharmonisch orkest and with her musical friends and inspirations including Gary Hoffman.
Born into a family of musicians, Ella began playing the cello at the age of six. Entered the Royal Conservatory of The Hague at the age of 10 and later continued her studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Godfried Hoogeveen. She has taken masterclasses and worked with Andras Schiff, Miklos Perenyi, Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Steven Isserlis, Anner Bijlsma, Bernard Greenhouse, Mischa Maisky, the Emerson Quartet among others.
From 2009-2016 Ella studied with professor Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy Masters in Germany. From 2016-2019 she was an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels, where she studied with Gary Hoffman. Ella plays on a 1620 Maggini cello, kindly lend to her by an anonymus benefactor.

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Caspar Vos (piano)

Niek Baar (violin)

Composer(s)

Sergei Rachmaninov

Maxim Shalygin

“Creativity is an unconscious act of insanity, in a burst of which the truth is born. No matter how beautiful or disgusting it may seem to people far from madness, its value is beyond doubt, both for the author and for those able to sense its invisible beauty. After all, gratitude for endless trials and suffering brings joy and blissful emptiness... Being shocked by music is about pain turning into beauty and getting under your skin, taking away your breath; about everything stopping to move. I want to be scratched inside by sound and experience the fleeting, invisible beauty.” Maxim Shalygin was born in Ukraine on January 30th, 1985. He began studying composition seriously at the age of sixteen, with Irina Ivashenko. In 2004, he trained for one year with Boris Tishchenko at the N. Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia. He received his first Master’s Degree in 2010 at the National Music Academy in Kiev, Ukraine. One year later, in 2011, Shalygin received his second Master’s Degree at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, The Netherlands, where he studied with Cornelis de Bondt and Diderik Wagenaar. He currently resides and works in The Netherlands.
For over ten years, Maxim Shalygin has been occupied with the project of a lifetime: music for solo instruments. “The most concealed, intimate, and deep things can only be expressed by a single instrument,” he says. In each of his solo works, Shalygin reaches an exalted state, giving the instrument a special voice. The 9 Preludes for Piano Solo, Letters to Anna, a symphony for violin solo, Musique de Ferfor one percussionist, and Trembling Musicfor accordion solo are the results of close collaboration with unique performers such as Antony Baryshevsky, Emmy Storms, Konstantyn Napolov, and Vincent van Amsterdam, respectively. On the other hand, Shalygin explores writing for symphony and chamber orchestras. His works Passacaglia Es-moll, Triple Concerto Des-dur, and Lullabyfor strings have been performed in many concert halls.
Another important thread throughout the composer’s work is music for ballet. His collaboration with choreographer Lonneke van Leth resulted in scores for several ballets: Suite - Homage to Alfred Schnittke, Nachtnet, and Odysseus, that were performed during the Holland Dance Festival, and have enjoyed successes in many Dutch theaters.
Maxim Shalygin is also the author of a wealth of electro-acoustic compositions. He considers some of these as a kind of musical cinema. Two Hours in Reservoir(using Joseph Brodsky’s recitation voice) and When Everything Ends, We Start to Sing Our Songs, are musical works of over 50 minutes in length, with plots that engage the listener in ever-changing streams of sound shapes.
Shalygin’s vocal music constitutes the most characteristic and intimate part of his work, its very heart. It is not concert music in the usual sense — it is poetry recited by a voice and an instrument (the piano) combined. It is music written for its own sake, which becomes a heritage of others.
Maxim Shalygin has participated in many international competitions. For his Letters to Annasymphony for violin solo, he obtained an honorable mention at the 2012 Gaudeamus Competition. In the same year, his music was selected for Lars von Trier’s Gesamtproject. Shalygin was a composer-in-residence at IZOLYAT-SIA, Platform for Cultural Initiatives in Donetsk, Ukraine, and the Storioni Festival in The Netherlands. His works have been performed at many music festivals worldwide, including Gaudeamus Muziekweek (The Netherlands), Musical Contrasts of the 20th Century (Russia), Musical Youth Tributne, and GOGOLFEST (Ukraine), GAIDA Festival (Lithuania), and CIME/ICEM (United States). Leading contemporary music ensembles who have performed his works include Asko|Schönberg, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, DoelenKwartet, Insomnio, Nieuw Ensemble, Slagwerk Den Haag, and Keuris Kwartet.

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Press

Not only is the performance of these works fascinating, the audio quality is also striking with a perfect balance between the piano, the violin and Ella's often deep growling cello.
Music Emotion, 01-4-2023

You can entrust those pieces to Van Poucke and Vos, with violinist Niek Baar in the trio. The nature of their playing fits well with music and traditions from Rachmaninov's time anyway: clear, warm timbres and no fear of imprinting the personal stamp of one's own emotional life on it in the search for a timeless emotional narrative, which can also appeal to the listener in the present. The musicians are characters in a story.
NRC, 03-3-2023

Van Poucke and Vos are evenly matched and form an impressive duo that gives the compositions of Rachmaninov a new lease of life with great expression and refined empathy.
Music Frames, 22-2-2023

Here cellist Ella van Poucke and pianist Caspar Vos traverse the symphonic breadth of his Cello Sonata in a performance that sounds completely intuitive and at the same time full of depth. It's fantastic how they keep attuning their timbre to each other and let nostalgia and tenderness sparkle between fiery impulses and virtuoso outbursts.
De Volkskrant, 09-2-2023

With her lush sound, she ensures that the cello seems to crawl into your skin. You, like her as a performer, merge with the instrument.
De Standaard, 08-2-2023

A gift is also the beautiful playing of this extremely musical trio, which presents itself for these three works as intense, charismatic interpreters of an equally intense oeuvre. The extroverted character is nicely interspersed with chamber music intimacy, while excessive sentimentality is avoided. The close sense of structure also pays off here.
Opus Klassiek, 01-2-2023