The repertoire
for cello and piano is a healthy one.
As the duo of cellist Marie-Elizabeth Hecker and pianist Martin
Hecker will show during their imaginatively-programmed recital
at Bargemusic Oct. 29 and 30, the works for these two instruments
can span the spectrum from relatively quiet and mournful to the
exuberant and playful.
Opening the performance is one of the most beautiful miniatures
ever written by that French composer of grace and refinement,
Gabriel Faure. In his "Elegie," the cello’s yearning
quality is brought out with studied elegance, along with the
piano’s somber underpinnings.
Following the Faure work, Marie-Elizabeth takes a crack at one
of the greatest solo cello sonatas, Paul Hindemith’s Opus 25.
The difficulty with writing solo music for cello is twofold:
first, the instrument’s low register makes it daunting to compose
music for it of sufficient variety; and second, J.S. Bach composed
six masterpieces three centuries ago. But Hindemith pulls it
off with youthful bravado and adventurousness.
After intermission, the brother-sister team return for a pair
of staples of the cello-piano repertory: Beethoven’s fourth sonata
and Prokofiev’s first sonata.
All in all, this should be one of Bargemusic’s most musically
satisfying offerings this season.
Cellist Marie-Elizabeth Hecker and pianist Martin Hecker play
Faure, Hindemith, Beethoven and Prokofiev on Oct. 29 at 7:30
pm and Oct. 30 at 4 pm at Bargemusic (Fulton Ferry Landing, located
at the end of Old Fulton Street on the East River). Tickets are
$35, $25 for full-time students. For more information, call (718)
624-2083 or visit www.bargemusic.org.
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