Exquisite Music for Cello

An evening of cello music “German Classical Music” will be offered to the attention of the residents and guests of the capital at the Astana Opera. On February 10, wonderful musicians – cellist Yermek Kurmanayev and pianist Anara Kamelinova will perform at the opera house’s Chamber Hall.

This evening, cello sonatas by German creative geniuses – great representative of musical classicism Beethoven and outstanding romantic composer Brahms – will be performed. Sonatas for Cello and Piano No. 1 in F-major and No. 2 in G-minor, Op.5 by the founder of the cello sonata genre Ludwig van Beethoven will be featured.

“The author dedicated these works to the King of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm II, who was not only a patron of musical art, but also played the cello himself. Beethoven created the sonatas at the age of 26. The young composer proved himself to be a true innovator: he used a rare at the time instrumental ensemble, magnifying the significance of the cello part. Thus, in Beethoven’s sonatas, the parts of cello and piano become equal in technical and artistic terms, a sound balance is established between them,” Head of the Chamber Hall, musicologist Marzhan Zhakenova noted.

The program also includes Johannes Brahms’ Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 in F major, Op.99. Large-scale, rich in substance, dramatic composition was written in 1886 at the request of the famous cellist Robert Hausmann. The premiere took place at the Kleine Musikvereinssaal (known as the Brahms Saal since 1937) of the Wiener Musikverein, where the author himself performed the piano part. The work, which has become one of the most exquisite examples of the genre, is characterized by the magnitude of musical ideas, emotional intensity, diversity of lyrical musical images, romantic pathos, vibrancy and contrast range.