Brahms: Cello Sonatas | Giovannini, Armellini

Cello Sonatas features Luca Giovannini and Leonora Armellini in Johannes Brahms’s two Sonatas for cello and piano: Op. 38 in E minor and Op. 99 in F major.

Formats and editions

• CD — CVLD327CD
• Hi-Res WAV file 88.2kHz · 24bit — CVLD327

Musicians

Luca Giovannini — cello
Leonora Armellini — piano

Recording and production

Original 88.2 kHz · 24-bit recording at Magister Recording Area, Preganziol, Italy, on 12 July 2020. Leonora Armellini plays a Steinway & Sons D274, tuned and prepared by Silvano Zanta.

Production: Velut Luna
Executive producer: Marco Lincetto
Musical production and editing: Michele Sartor
Recording, mix and mastering: Marco Lincetto
Design and layout: L’Image
Text: Myriam Guglielmo
Photography: Marco Lincetto

Track listing

Cello Sonata N.1 in E Minor Op. 38
1 - Allegro non troppo  14:34
2 - Allegretto quasi minuetto  5:50
3 - Allegro  6:39

Cello Sonata N.2 in F Major, Op. 99
4 - Allegro Vivace  9:06
5 - Adagio affettuoso  6:37
6 - Allegro appassionato  7:43
7 - Allegro molto  4:50

total time:  55:24

Critical notes

Johannes Brahms and the cellists of Sonatas Op. 38 and Op. 99: a photographic retrospective.

Among the complex array of chamber music pieces in Brahms's catalogue, the two Sonatas for piano and cello (a designation that, by the composer's wish, emphasizes the equal nature of the instruments involved) are traditionally considered cornerstones of the repertoire dedicated to this formation. Their notoriety, due to successful reception and continuous performance that we still witness today, should not prevent the listener and interpreter from having an overview of the two Sonatas, which is often neglected in favor of a mere chronological and compositional comparison. Although twenty-four years elapsed between the writing of the first two movements of the Sonata in E minor Op. 38 and the publication of the Sonata in F major Op. 99, the interest in cello writing, fueled by the presence of key figures in the composer's circle, can be considered common to both periods.
In a photograph dated May 7, 1894, we find Brahms, on his sixty-first birthday, surrounded by friends and colleagues at the home of the von Miller zu Aichholz family (Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde archive, Vienna). Among the guests, besides Ignaz Brüll, Anton Door, Julius Epstein, Eusebius Mandyczewski, Gustav Walter, Eduard Hanslick, and Richard Mühlfeld, are the dedicatees of the two Sonatas for piano and cello: Josef Gänsbacher and Robert Hausmann. - Myriam Guglielmo

Biographies

Luca Giovannini

Luca Giovannini, born in Rovigo in 2000, attended the "Francesco Venezze" Conservatory in Rovigo with M° L. Simoncini and graduated at 17 with honors and a special mention. He enriched his studies by attending the "R. Romanini" Academy in Brescia, where he studied with G. Sollima and later with G. Capuçon at the "Classe d'excellence" of the Louis Vuitton Foundation. From a very young age, Luca distinguished himself in numerous competitions, among the most prestigious being the first prize in 2018 at the J. Brahms competition in Pörtschach, Austria, becoming the first Italian to win it, in 2016 the third prize at the "Schönefeld" competition in China, and the National Arts Award 2020.
He has had the opportunity to play for the most illustrious names in the music world, such as G. Kremer, A. Schiff, N. Gutman, E. Dindo, M. Brunello, B. Canino, D. Rossi, and many others, gaining different perspectives and highly stimulating insights.
He has performed in numerous countries and important theaters such as the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Carnegie Hall in NY, Musikverein in Vienna, the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sale Apollinee della Fenice, and the Sala Maffeiana in Verona. Luca studied with F. Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy, Frankfurt. He plays an Ansaldo Poggi kindly granted by M° M. Brunello.

Leonora Armellini

Leonora Armellini was a very young winner of the “Janina Nawrocka Prize” for “extraordinary musicality and beauty of sound” at the “F. Chopin” International Piano Competition in Warsaw (2010). This success was brilliantly confirmed in the 2021 edition, with a Fifth Prize making her the first Italian woman to reach the top of a competition considered the pinnacle of world pianism. Leonora Armellini (1992), daughter of artists, began studying piano at the age of four with Laura Palmieri and graduated at twelve with full marks, honors, and a special mention. In 2005, she unanimously won the XXII Premio Venezia, reserved for the best graduates of Italian Conservatories, and continued her training with Sergio Perticaroli at the Accademia di S. Cecilia in Rome, graduating at seventeen with honors, becoming the youngest graduate of the prestigious institution. She further perfected her skills with Lilya Zilberstein and Marian Mika, and graduated from the “Incontri col Maestro” Piano Academy in Imola with Boris Petrushansky (2018). Among the numerous awards and recognitions for her artistic and human qualities, Leonora received in 2013 from Zubin Mehta the “Galileo 2000 Pentagramma d’oro” award for her “great courage and musical talent.” in May 2013, the National Association of Music Critics decided to award the “XXXII Premio Abbiati,” “Premio Piero Farulli,” to the Trio formed by Leonora, Laura Marzadori, and Ludovico Armellini (Piano, Violin, and Cello). She regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician for festivals and concert seasons in Italy and abroad (Carnegie Hall in New York, Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Salle Cortot in Paris, Warsaw Philharmonic, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Martha Argerich Project in Lugano, and throughout Europe, China, South Korea, Japan, …), and has performed with numerous orchestras including the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, I Solisti Veneti, the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino, the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice, the Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona, the Ukrainian National Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Symphony Orchestra of the Lodz Philharmonic (Poland)… Leonora is the protagonist of numerous recording projects; her most recent releases include the DVD “Piano Recital” published by ContempoArs containing, among others, Chopin’s Etudes op. 25, and a CD published by Brilliant Classics containing Poulenc’s Concerto for two pianos and orchestra, Britten’s Scottish Ballad, and Debussy’s Première Suite for piano four-hands in the formation of the Duo Pianistico di Padova (with pianist Mattia Ometto), Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, and conductor Luigi Piovano. In the same formation, she also recorded the complete works for two pianos by Brahms for Da Vinci Classics. She has been invited by Italian and foreign radio and television for interviews and concerts, including the “Concerti del Quirinale” and an appearance as a guest at the Sanremo Festival 2013. Alongside Matteo Rampin, she co-wrote and published the popular music book “Mozart era un figo, Bach ancora di più” (Mozart was cool, Bach even cooler), published by SALANI (2014), now in its seventh edition and translated into Spanish. She has taught piano at the “A. Buzzolla” Conservatory in Adria (RO)

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