Disparate Duos
| 1. | Introduction | 00:00:50 |
| 2. | Kodály: Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 | 00:27:59 |
| 3. | Beethoven: Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 5, No. 2 | 00:29:40 |
| 4. | Closing | 00:00:30 |
Two players is all you need to make great chamber music. On today’s program, we have two duos by Zoltán Kodály and Beethoven, showcasing how extraordinary a small ensemble can be. By the time Zoltán Kodály composed this duo on the eve of WWI, he had spent more than a decade researching the folk music of his native Hungary, which produced works of unique color and flavor. This music doesn’t require intellectual rigor of its listeners, only a willingness to be swept up by its passionate harmonies and infectious rhythms. Beethoven’s five Sonatas for Cello and Piano revolutionized the role of the cello in music — they are the first works in which the cello is an equal partner to the keyboard. His first two cello sonatas were written for King Frederick William the Second, an amateur cellist, and patron to Mozart and Haydn. After the pleasing and delightful first Sonata in F major, the second Sonata, dark and brooding, in the serious key of G minor, foretold Beethoven’s transformative journey into the full-blown Romantic age to come.
PROGRAM
|
Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) |
Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 (1914) Bella Hristova, violin; Nicholas Canellakis, cello |
|
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) |
Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 5, No. 2 (1796) Arnaud Sussmann, Chad Hoopes, Danbi Um, James Thompson, Francisco Fullana, Kristin Lee, violin; Matthew Lipman, Paul Neubauer, Jeremy Berry, viola; Sihao He, Mihai Marica, Dmitri Atapine, cello; Blake Hinson, double bass |
| Title | Date |
|---|---|
| Streaming live | {{ViewModel.StreamingOn.date}}, {{ViewModel.StreamingOn.time}} |
| Off-sale on | {{ViewModel.OffSaleDate.date}}, {{ViewModel.OffSaleDate.time}} |
| Available on-demand until | {{ViewModel.AvailableUntil.date}}, {{ViewModel.AvailableUntil.time}} |
{{ViewModel.BuySubscription.prompt}}
Bella Hristova
Nicholas Canellakis
Paul Watkins
Alessio Bax
Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (New York Times) and “impressive power and control” (Washington Post). A recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, she is known for a diverse repertoire, bold programming, and a warmly beguiling stage presence. Hristova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand, and has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. A devoted champion of living composers, she has premiered new concertos by Anthony Ritchie and her husband, David Serkin Ludwig. Her commissioning project, Lineage, features six new solo violin works and will be released as an album on Azica Records in 2027. She plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin once owned by Louis Krasner.
Nicholas Canellakis has become one of the most sought-after and innovative cellists of his generation, praised in the New Yorker as a “superb young soloist.” Recent highlights include solo debuts with the Virginia, Albany, Bangor, and Delaware symphony orchestras; concerto appearances with the Erie Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony, and the American Symphony Orchestra; Europe and Asia tours with CMS; and recitals throughout the US with his longtime duo collaborator, pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, he is a regular guest artist at many of the world’s leading music festivals. Canellakis is the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Sedona in Arizona and is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music (where he was recently appointed to the cello faculty) and New England Conservatory.
Paul Watkins enjoys a distinguished career as soloist, chamber musician, and conductor. The cellist of the Emerson String Quartet from 2013 until its disbanding in 2023, he was also Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival from 2014 to 2026, and in 2019 was appointed Professor of Cello at the Yale School of Music. He has performed as soloist with prestigious orchestras worldwide. A dedicated chamber musician, he was a member of the Nash Ensemble from 1997 until 2013 and appears regularly at CMS. Watkins has held the positions of Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra. His extensive discography as a cellist includes more than 70 recordings, and his first recording as a conductor, of the Britten and Berg violin concertos with Daniel Hope, received a Grammy nomination. His recent recording of the Beethoven Cello Sonatas with Alessio Bax was Gramophone’s June 2026 Recording of the Month.
Alessio Bax won first prize at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and has appeared with nearly 200 orchestras, including the New York, London, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras; the Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Cincinnati, Seattle, Sydney, BBC Scottish, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras; the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras; and the Tokyo and NHK Symphonies in Japan. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists. At age 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, Italy. He is a former member of CMS’s Bowers Program and is on the faculty at New England Conservatory. For ten years, Bax has been Artistic Director of the Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival, and is the Artistic Director of the London Festival of Chamber Music at Smith Square Hall in London. He also serves as Co-Artistic Director of the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation for emerging pianists.