Benjamin Godard; Léon Boëllmann - Cello Sonatas (Mats Lidström)

Information

Composer: Benjamin Godard; Léon Boëllmann

1. (01) Godard - Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 104
2. (04) Godard - Two Pieces for cello & piano, Op. 61
3. (06) Boëllmann - Two Pieces for cello & piano, Op. 3
4. (08) Boëllmann - Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 40

Mats Lidström, cello

Bengt Forsberg, piano

Date: 1996
Label: Hyperion
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA66888

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Review

“The sonatas on this recording are two works to which we seem to return continually,” writes Mats Lidstrom in the context of Hyperion’s booklet. He continues: “They belong to the truly grand sonatas: Brahms’s F major Sonata is another one. Maybe one day they will be played as often as the Brahms.” A point well made, though ‘truly grand’ is no substitute for truly great, which is why the Brahms has gained a secure foothold in the repertory, and both the Godard and the Boellmann still languish in relative obscurity. Godard’s offering plays for over half an hour, with Lisztian swirls in the first movement, a Schumannesque Adagio non troppo and a finale that suggests Brahms and, occasionally, Faure. Were it not that the performers on the present CD are so exceptionally adroit, I doubt thatI would have returned to the work; but I did, mainly because their enthusiasm and expertise proved so infectious.

I was even more taken with the Boellmann, and not just because of the playing. Here the ideas seem far bolder (Franck and Wagner thicken the mix), while the first movement’s bracing Allegro con fuoco suggests Grieg in folkish mood (a connection that obviously wasn’t lost on these particular performers). Again, the reading is especially compelling, with plenty of cut and thrust from Lidstrom backed by a warmly cosseting piano line (the two players have been performing together for some 16 years). All four of the shorter pieces deserve a place in the ‘encore’ folio although Boellmann’s “Menuet” sounds to me more like a Valse noble (or at least a lusty mazurka).

Cellists should rejoice, and so should those who know Benjamin Godard only from the Jocelyn “Berceuse” and Leon Boellmann from the Suite gothique. As in days of old, second-rate music can still fare well if played by first-rate musicians; although nowadays, both can enjoy the additional advantages of first-rate digital sound. Annotation by Roger Nichols is excellent.

-- Gramophone

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Benjamin Godard (18 August 1849 – 10 January 1895) was a French violinist and Romantic-era composer of Jewish extraction, best known for his opera Jocelyn. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1863 where he studied under Henri Vieuxtemps (violin) and Napoléon Henri Reber (harmony). Godard composed eight operas, five symphonies, two piano and two violin concertos, string quartets, sonatas for violin and piano, piano pieces and etudes, and more than a hundred songs. He was opposed to the music of Richard Wagner and more in tune with those of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Godard

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Léon Boëllmann (September 25, 1862 – October 11, 1897) was a French composer of Alsatian origin. Boëllmann studied with Gustave Lefèvre and Eugène Gigout. As a favored student of Gigout, Boëllmann moved in the best circles of the French musical world. During the sixteen years of his professional life, Boëllmann composed about 160 pieces in all genres. Faithful to the style of Franck and an admirer of Saint-Saëns, Boëllmann exhibits a turn-of-the-century Post-romantic aesthetic. His best-known composition is Suite gothique (1895), which is a staple of the organ repertoire, especially its concluding Toccata.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Bo%C3%ABllmann

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Mats Lidström (born 1959 in Stockholm) is a Swedish solo cellist, recording artist, chamber musician, composer, teacher and publisher. His first teacher was Maja Vogl in Gothenburg. He then went on to study at the Juilliard School (New York) with Leonard Rose. Additional cello coaching includes Pierre Fournier, Janos Starker and Lynn Harrell. Lidström often seeks out neglected music for the cello and has produced several highly acclaimed and award-winning CDs. He has appeared on EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, BIS, Hyperion. Lidström plays the "Grützmacher" Rocca (Giuseppe Rocca 1857).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mats_Lidstr%C3%B6m

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