Cellosonate Nr. 5 D-Dur op. 102 Nr. 2 - 4. Teil

Over the summer of 1815, while he was living in what was then known as the “Unterdöblinger Gemeindehaus” (“Parish House in Unterdöbling”), Beethoven completed the two cello sonatas that make up his opus 102. He dedicated the first edition of the sheet music to his benefactor Countess Marie von Erdödy, having previously spent some time living in her house on Krugerstrasse. The sonatas mark a change in direction for Beethoven as a composer. Their incorporation of elements of counterpoint – reflecting Beethoven’s increasing appreciation of Bach – drew a particularly frosty reception from some contemporary listeners. Sonata No. 2 in D major ends with a final fugue, which we can hear in this 1945 recording by Gregor Piatigorsky and Ralph Berkowitz. The initially strict fugue gradually gives way to a polyphonic, almost fantastical style.

The Ukrainian-American cellist Gregor Piatigorsky (1903–1976) was considered one of the best cellists in the world in the 1930s and 1940s, and was influential in establishing the cello alongside the violin as a leading solo instrument. Having fled to Germany via Poland as a young man, in 1924 Piatigorsky became first cellist in Wilhelm Furtwängler’s Berlin Philharmonic. He later embarked on an international solo career, and eventually emigrated to the United States. Between 1940 and his death in 1976, Piatigorsky was accompanied by the American pianist Ralph Berkowitz (1910–2011), who also enjoyed a career as a university lecturer.
(Constanze Köhn)