Beethoven - Cello sonatas, vol. 1
Müller-Schott; Hewitt
Hyperion CDA67633

Release date November 2008

When Beethoven penned his first Cello Sonatas, (Op. 5, nos. 1 & 2), they became the most important works for this combination of instruments since Bach’s Viola da Gamba and Keyboard sonatas (which Müller-Schott & Hewitt recorded last year ). Initially inspired by a fortuitous meeting with two leading cellists of the day, Beethoven went on to compose five cello sonatas in total. The difficulty of balancing the more powerful piano with the cello was a challenge that Beethoven overcame by writing for an equal partnership (he himself called them piano and cello sonatas). Thus both instrumentalists are in equal employment, a task clearly relished by Müller-Schott and Hewitt in this, their first volume (of two) of the complete Cello Sonatas for Hyperion. In the first movement of the Sonata no. 1, when compared to Adrian and Alfred Brendel’s classic recording (Philips 4753792), Müller-Schott & Hewitt take a rather more flamboyant approach. This is evidenced by the quicker tempo of the Allegro that follows the Adagio Sostenuto opening and is a characteristic of this recording. Müller-Schott somehow makes his pizzicato carry through the piano line unlike Brendel’s more refined, yet no less musical, approach. The third sonata, in A, was written twelve years after the Op. 5 works and falls into the ‘heroic’ period of Beethoven’s output. It shows a significant development in compositional style. This recording capitalises on the magnificent velvety timbre of Müller-Schott’s 1727 Goffriller cello and the vast dynamic contrast achieved by both instrumentalists (noticeably more than the Brendel version). Recording conditions are slightly more resonant and this enhances the freer style of Müller-Schott and Hewitt’s account further still. An overwhelming sense of optimism is felt throughout, never more so than in the final movement which gathers pace to a thrilling finale. It is enlightening to hear the sonatas presented in chronological sequence and I look forward to the second volume.

Reviewed by Dawn Cooke