Despite a hollow sound quality that quashes the impact of the music, those looking for undiscovered cello music or works by women composers will find it of interest. Cellist Iris van Eck and pianist Arielle Vernède chose unknown sonatas by unknown Henriëtta Bosmans and by Louise Farrenc, and a slightly known Passacaglia on an Old English Tune by Rebecca Clarke. The pieces are in different styles, but their generally romantic, tonal nature makes them suitable for this hour-long program. Dutch composer Bosmans wrote her Cello Sonata when she was in her early twenties, in 1919, so a certain amount of youthful yearning is expected in a work modeled on the standards of the Romantic repertoire. However, what makes her sonata work is the consistency between instruments and between movements, both thematically and emotionally. The dark, profound opening theme of the first movement is the closing theme of the finale, which by then, after some mild anxiety and then tentativeness in the middle movements, has taken on a more tragic tone. It has textures that are reminiscent of Franck and Poulenc sonatas. If the quality of the recording had more depth and immediacy to it, van Eck's and Vernède's performance of the sonata would border on visceral. In contrast, Farrenc's First Sonata, Op. 46, sounds like it is not far removed from the Classical era, even though it dates from 1857-1858. It's only three movements, all of them in major mode, very straightforward in structure, with pleasant melodies and very little Romantic drama. Again, the sound lessens the effect of the contrast between the opening work and the gentleness and gracefulness of this one, but because the Farrenc is less technically and emotionally demanding, the sound doesn't really affect it as a separate work and it's easy to imagine it paired with Mozart's or Boccherini's chamber music. Finally, the Clarke Passacaglia is very much of its time, easily fitting in with works by English composers from Vaughan Williams to Britten also based on folk music. Van Eck and Vernède maintain a stateliness throughout as it alternates between pastoral and majestic episodes. The nature of the recording is unfortunate, but the Bosmans and Farrenc are nonetheless definitely worth a listen.
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