Wispelwey and Giacometti – Chopin / Mendelssohn

After the success of their Schubert disc on Onyx Classics with the Arpeggione Sonata, Fantasy in C and the Duo in A, Pieter Wispelwey and Paolo Giacometti got together for a new recording on period instruments. This time they where recording the Chopin and Mendelssohn Sonatas for cello and piano. Beside these masterpieces, Pieter and Paolo recorded Mendelssohns ‘Lied ohne Worte’ opus 109 and three Chopin waltzes opus 64 (arr Davidov), including the ‘Minute Waltz’.

During the session I experimented with a simple camera in the hall and edited the recorded material to a ‘look behind the scenes’:

[flv:http://www.daanvanaalst.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Davidov-Valse-opus-64-no-2-for-youtube-L.m4v http://www.daanvanaalst.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Wispelwey-and-Giacometti.jpg 500 300]

The Mennonite church in Haarlem was our recording venue. Pieter played his Guadagnini cello with gut strings and Paolo played on a very nice piano from the mid nineteenth century. The piano, an 1848 Erard,  is from the collection of Edwin Beunk and Edwin did the tuning himself.

The CD is released on Onyx Classics (ONYX4078). On the ONYX website you will find more information and also links for downloading the music to your audioplayer.

“Pieter Wispelwey once again joins with Paolo Giacometti, in a programme of Chopin and Mendelssohn. However, there is another great musical figure on this disc – the cellist and composer Karl Davydov, who studied with Mendelssohn’s composer friends Ignaz Moscheles and Ferdinand David. Davydov’s brilliant arrangements of the Chopin Waltzes op.64 form a sparkling interlude between Mendelssohn’s virtuosic Second Sonata, and Chopin’s masterful sonata for cello and piano.” (from the ONYX website)

Project info:

Recording producers: Daan van Aalst, Pieter Wispelwey

Balance engineer and editor: Daan van Aalst

Recording venue: Doopsgezinde Kerk, Haarlem, Netherlands

Recording dates: 10–12 January 2011

Cello: JB Guadagnini (Parma 1760)

Piano: Erard 1848 from collection Edwin Beunk, Enschede, Netherlands

Piano Tuner: Edwin Beunk


Daan van Aalst

Author Daan van Aalst

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