 Surtitré "Lieber Freund", ce CD nous donne à entendre trois sonates pour violoncelle et piano composées par Brahms et deux membres éminents de son "cercle", Julius Röntgen et Heinrich von Herzogenberg. Le souvenir de J.S. Bach semble avoir hanté les trois compères, le troisième co-fondateur de la Bach-Verein, le second citant une partie du choeur final de la "Passion selon St Matthieu" dans le quatrième mouvement de sa 5ème sonate ici proposée, le premier une quasi-citation de"'L'Art de la Fugue" dans le troisième mouvement de sa 1ère sonate également au programme. Isabel Gehweiler et Fiona Hengartner semblent s'être inspirées dans leur interprétation de la maxime de l'Oracle de Delphes "Rien de trop" ce qui nous vaut par exemple un allegro initial de la 1ère sonate de Brahms vraiment non troppo, ainsi que prescrit, avec un gain de poésie remarquable. Il n'est jamais question, dans une démarche narcissique, de briller mais uniquement de servir les oeuvres. L'ennui est que la prise de son a placé le piano légèrement en retrait avec l'avantage certes de permettre au violoncelle de s'épanouir mais au détriment de l'équilibre sonore dans des pages où le clavier est loin d'être cantonné à un rôle de simple accompagnateur. (Michel Lorentz-Alibert) In 1874, Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843-1900) hosted a Brahms festival in Leipzig, where the two men became friends. Brahms (1833-1897) also met Julius Röntgen (1855-1932) there. Subsequently, the three men rubbed shoulders in what became known as the Brahms circle. Brahms was a central figure in this professional and friendly network, from which he benefited in many ways. Between 1874 and 1892, he sent almost all his manuscripts to Elisabeth von Herzogenberg (1847-1892), his former piano pupil who married Heinrich von Herzogenberg. He took her advice most readily, along with that of the pianist and composer Clara Schumann, another leading figure in the circle. The group’s meetings allowed Brahms to try out works before they were premiered or published. In addition, Elisabeth von Herzogenberg’s exceptional memory and talent as a pianist enabled her to perform unpublished pieces she had heard, thus promoting their diffusion. This network was essential to Brahms’s recognition, but its role is little known as its members, dominated by ideas of genius and inspiration, blotted out the traces of their help to let their idol shine alone. [..] With this programme, Isabel Gehweiler and Fiona Hengartner shed light on the circle that played a decisive role in bringing Brahms into the repertoire but also produced other top-quality composers who had unjustly fallen into oblivion. Let us not forget that Joachim placed the works of Heinrich von Herzogenberg just after those of Brahms and believed that Röntgen could become one of the great masters in the history of music.
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