Edgar Moreau & David Kadouch | Beethoven – Chopin

The complicity of David Kadouch and Edgar Moreau is marvellous in this programme dedicated to one of Beethoven's most exquisite pages, but also to the passion that Chopin, from one end of his career to the other, had for the 'voice' of the cello.

Far from the tempestuous, rebellious Beethoven, the Sonata No 3 for cello and piano charms with its balance and Apollonian serenity. The amiable dialogue of the first movement is followed by the syncopations of the Scherzo, the lyricism of the Adagio and the elation of the Finale, in itself a symbol of shared music. A composer-pianist par excellence, Chopin was nevertheless fascinated by the timbre of the cello, its warmth and vocality.

It was to the virtuoso Auguste Franchomme that he dedicated his Sonata Op. 65, whose extremely dense first movement is as long as the other three! Full of verve, the Scherzo adopts a 'diabolical' vivacity reminiscent of Mendelssohn, followed by the brief but poignant Adagio, in the style of a Nocturne, and the concluding Rondo, with its chromaticism typical of the late Chopin. Much earlier and more compact is the Introduction and Polonaise brillante (Op. 3), in which the young composer, after an opening page full of expectations, gives free rein to the heroic-epic vein, carried by the spirit of Slavic dance, which is an integral part of his art.