New Classical Tracks: Chopin and Rachmaninov Piano and Cello Sonatas

Alisa Weilerstein/Inon Barnatan - Chopin and Rachmaninoff piano and cello sonatas (Decca)

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein and her husband, conductor Rafael Payare, are expecting their first baby this spring — a little girl who's already in the spotlight.

"There's something about being on stage while pregnant … it's an incredible experience," Alisa says. "I mean, I'm playing for this small creature who I've just started to feel the movements. And she actually reacts to different pieces and different music and actually it's a really, really beautiful feeling, and to have this company on stage is really wonderful."

Alisa's new recording offers an intimate experience as well. It's her first recording with longtime duo partner, Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan.

"We've been playing together for the past seven years," Alisa explains. "And actually the Chopin sonata, which is on the recording, is one of the very first pieces we played together. And about two years ago, we decided we really wanted to put something on disc and we wanted first of all to take repertoire that we really felt this kind of primal, visceral connection to and love for. So the Chopin and Rachmaninoff were easy choices for the both of us. And those are pieces we perform a lot. And we feel very comfortable with, we feel very comfortable with each other on them. And the fact that both these composers wrote so beautifully for the cello and wrote such an interesting interplay between the cello and piano — this was something we really wanted to celebrate because whenever we program, we try to choose pieces that have the most interesting interplay between the cello and piano and these were great examples of that."

Chopin's sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor was composed for his friend, cellist August Franchomme, who also served as one of the pallbearers at Chopin's funeral. It was the last work published in Chopin's own lifetime, which perhaps explains its dark quality. "He said it was a tremendous struggle to write for this combination," Alisa says. "It sounds like he has been writing for cello his whole life and it feels like that, too. I mean, the way he wrote for cello — it's the most natural thing in the world. He takes full advantage of the cellist's capabilities, especially at that time. It was fairly virtuosic writing for that time. And actually it's more adventurous in a way than Rachmaninoff's writing for cello was. And … Chopin died of tuberculosis — he knew he was dying but I don't necessarily feel that in the sonata.

"The first movement, in a way, is the darkest," Alisa continues. "And perhaps the most adventurous. The other three movements, I think of them as kind of vignettes, in a way. The second movement could be compared to one of the mazurkas. The third movement, as you know, is very … gorgeous, languid, largo which is three-and-a-half minutes, and one can imagine it being sung in one breath, almost … by a really great singer who could hold his or her breath for three-and-a-half minutes. But … then it's followed by a very fast movement which begins in this kind of brooding character but then ends in a very exhilarating, very ecstatic, G major, very triumphant kind of ending."

Both the Chopin and the Rachmaninoff sonatas on this recording are in the same key. What significance, if any, is there to this shared key? According to Alisa, it was merely a coincidence. "But the key of G minor generally is a very tragic one," she says. "And both of these sonatas … they definitely have that character and they certainly have moments of real tragedy, I think, especially in the first movements of both of them. However, they both end on a very triumphant note. In fact, the last movement of the Rachmaninoff is entirely in G major. It starts in G major and spends most of its time there and it's kind of a life affirmation."

If you're hearing these two sonatas for the first time, Alisa clues us in to what to listen for. In the Rachmaninoff, Alisa "would direct [listeners] for sure to the third movement. Also to hear the kind of way Rachmaninoff shadows harmony. You can hear this kind of Schubertian … between light and dark. And jazz players really stole from Rachmaninoff as well, I would say. The opening eight bars where the piano is playing alone — it sounds like a kind of improvisation. And when the cello starts soaring over that and then they soar together — it's really, really moving. The Chopin sonata I would say — listen to the first movement, the first movement is the strongest movement … of course this is not the one that was premiered way back when. This is what really has the most interesting writing and the most interesting interplay between cello and piano."

The interplay between the instruments is enhanced by friendship — both the composers' performance partners, and the performers on this recording. Chopin and Rachmaninoff performed them with dear friends. And Alisa Weilerstein and Inon Barnatan perform these works with a deep connection both to their friendship and to this music.

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