Brahms: Cello Sonatas Nos 1 & 2; R Schumann: Fünf Stücke im Volkston, Op. 102
Christian Poltéra (cello), Ronald Brautigam (piano)
BIS BIS-2427 (CD/SACD) 63:44 mins
Brahms’s father was a double bassist, as people often recall when listening to the E minor Cello Sonata, given its deep-set opening and supposedly glum, crepuscular nature. How wonderful, then, to find Christian Poltéra and Ronald Brautigam simply blowing all those preconceptions out of the window.
The duo fill their phrasing, rhythm and sense of momentum with bracing fresh air, bringing maximum exhilaration to a work that too often can seem to lack it. Poltéra’s tone leaps and glows – yes, cellos really can sparkle; and Brautigam’s, enhanced by a modern copy of an 1868 Streicher piano,
has both a pinpoint clarity and extra resonance.
The programme is well-planned, placing the Schumann Fünf Stücke im Volkston between the two Brahms sonatas for a change of flavour. The musicians continue to rid us of all possible cobwebs here, setting about the opening piece with such stomping flair that all it lacks is a trombone and an accordion; they also bring a sincere tenderness and lyrical flow to the gentler pieces.
The Brahms F minor Sonata, which postdates its sibling work by nearly a quarter-century, is the more flamboyant and open-hearted of the pair, and here you might expect Poltéra and Brautigam to be on home turf. Nevertheless, they do not play it safe; there’s a pervasive sense of pushing at boundaries, with risks being taken in most directions, and Poltéra occasionally comes a little bit close to forcing the tone or tackling a swoop too far. But the recording’s overwhelming passion, vivacity and joy, as well as its sterling sound quality, has stayed with me for days.