Mendelssohn, Grieg & Hough: Cello Sonatas - Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough

Cello Sonata in A minor Op 36[26'21]Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
1
Allegro agitato[8'45]
2
Andante molto tranquillo[5'59]
3
Allegro molto e marcato[11'37]
Sonata for cello and piano left hand 'Les adieux'[20'13]Stephen Hough (b1961)
4
Moderato mesto –[8'11]
5
Allegretto placido (Im Legendenton)[6'38]
6
Adagio sereno[5'24]
Cello Sonata No 2 in D major Op 58[25'06]Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
7
Allegro assai vivace[7'36]
8
Allegretto scherzando[5'16]
9
Adagio[5'16]
10
Molto allegro e vivace[6'58]
Grieg’s sole Cello Sonata has long been a favourite of performers and audiences, if not of musical theorists, and here receives an impassioned vote of confidence from Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough at the head of a programme which takes the listener forwards in time to Hough’s own Sonata for cello and piano left hand and back to Mendelssohn’s ever-popular Cello Sonata No 2. A spirit of passionate romanticism unifies the whole.