Ludwig Van Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125, Choral (arr. R. Wagne

Cellist Péter Somodari and pianist Nicolas Costantinou present Hedra, an album that takes the listener through key repertoire for cello and piano, from sonatas by Beethoven and Debussy and individual pieces by Fauré to a world-premiere recording of the Cello Sonata No. 1 by contemporary Greek Cypriot composer Contantinou Y. Stylianou. 

The word ‘hedra’ (Greek: ἕδρα) refers to any side or face of a three-dimensional geometric shape. Any given face is not only connected to its neighbours, but together they contribute to and are part of the final shape. Similarly, every musical masterpiece is interconnected with those that follow, as it inevitably contributed to their formation, and this is reflected in the relationship between the works gathered together on this release. Beethoven pioneered the modern cello sonata, and from first to last his five cello sonatas chart a huge development in the genre. The Fourth, as recorded on this album, spans dark chromaticism, improvisatory freedom and extrovert exuberance in a manner that paved the way for later composers. 

Fauré’s amiable Sicilienne was composed as part of the incidental music for Molière's play, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, while his Élégie was originally conceived as the slow movement of an abandoned cello sonata. The Élégie was described by composer Patrick Castillo as honouring “grief as a multifaceted thing”, relating it to this album’s theme. Written late in his life while he struggled with illness and the impact of the First World War, Debussy’s Cello Sonata is founded on principles inherited from Beethoven and his contemporaries; Debussy said that his sonatas were composed “in the old supple forms (without the bombast of modern sonatas)”, and that the Cello Sonata is “almost Classical in the best sense of the word”.  

Stylianou’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in C major is a further continuation of the question of the sonata form and whether it is still relevant today. The work was composed during spring 2020 and in the words of the composer: “I decided to channel all the fear and frustration of the pandemic in creating a work that deals with those aforementioned questions but in a personal way. It would be impossible to avoid feelings of that period seeping into the work, but at the same time, I wanted it to be a creation in pursuit of inner balance, which is after all what the sonata form is meant to be. Whatever the opposition of two musical ideas (or more) might be, in the end, it must find a resolution of some sort.”

Péter Somodari and Nicolas Costantinou have been performing together since their student days. Currently serving as the principal cellist of both the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Péter Somodari has collaborated with such artists as Leonidas Kavakos, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Alexei Lubimov, Truls Mørk, Miklós Perényi, Boris Pergamenschikow, Christian Tetzlaff, Tabea Zimmermann, composer György Kurtág, and the Toyota Orchestra. He is currently a visiting professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna

A regular collaborator with Odradek Records, Steinway Artist Nicolas Costantinou has a doctorate from the Royal College of Music in London and is renowned for impressing audiences with his daring selection of repertoire old and new. Costantinou has previously recorded the music of Constantinos Y. Stylianou on the Odradek releases Metavasis and Past Forward. Stylianou studied and now lives in London, and his music has been performed by the Philharmonia, Bruckner Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra and the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall in London, the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh, St David's Hall in Cardiff, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, ORF concert hall in Vienna, Megaron Concert Hall in Athens, the UNESCO Headquarters and the Cathédrale Saint-Louis des Invalides in Paris.

Gabriel Faure - Sicilienne, Op. 78

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Original Composition By: Vittorio Monti

Vittorio Monti - Csárdás (Remix)

Mendelssohn - String Quartet No. 6 In F Minor, Op. 80 - I. Allegro Vivace Assai

V014-Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Concerto No. 3 In F Major, RV 293, Autumn II. Adagio molto

DG KIM, Cello, Piano and Conductor

Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1
Dvorak (arr. Kreisler, orch Kim): Songs my Mother Taught Me
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2, Mvt. 2

03 Cello Concerto No 1 In C Major, Hob VIIb 1 - Allegro Molto   FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN

The Masterworks (CD 01) - Violin Concertos Op. 8 Nos. 1-7

Concerto No.1 In E Major Op. 8 No. 1, RV269, Spring Antonio Vivaldi

Johannes Brahms - Hungarian Dance Nº 1 In G Minor

Liszt: Sonata in B Minor and Grandes études de Paganini

Grandes études de Paganini, S.141: III. No. III in G-Sharp Minor ‘La Campanella’

A classical recital with improvisation! 

Program:

1) J.S. Bach - Prelude and Fugue in G Maj, No. 15, BWV 860 (The 
     Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol. 1)

2) Franz Schubert - Fantasy in C Major (Wanderer), D. 760, Op. 15

                       i. Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo
                       ii. Adagio
                       iii. Presto
                       iv. Allegro

3) Franz Liszt - Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 514

4) Maurice Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit, M. 55  I - Ondine

5) Ezam Wit - The Spiral Staircase (2020), for solo piano with improvisation

Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (Liszt)

An enthralling, world-class pianist with exceptional talent at improvising and composing in a multitude of styles ranging from contemporary classical and modern jazz to progressive rock and new-age, Evan has focused on blending his influences into one unique, individual style. These influences include bands, artists and composers such as Dream Theater, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau (and trio), The Bad Plus, Frederic Chopin, Maurice Ravel, Franz Liszt, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Cecil Taylor, John Adams, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, and Rush. A native of Canada, Evan now lives in the USA.

Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (Liszt)

Evan Whitfield

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