Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Sonate en ré majeur, op. 78 (trans. Sonate pour violon n° 1 en sol majeur, op. 78 de Paul Klengel)
Six Lieder (trans. Norbert Salter)
9 Danses Hongroises, op. 21 (extraits) (trans. de A. Piatti)

Francesco Dillon, violoncelle
Emanuele Torquati, piano

Des transcriptions pour violoncelle d’œuvres de Brahms aussi éloignées que sont la sonate n° 1 pour violon et piano, six Lieder et neuf danses hongroises, voilà un programme ambitieux et original qui ne manque pas d’intérêt. Les transcriptions de violon à violoncelle sont courantes, les deux instruments étant assez proches, ne se différenciant que par le registre plus grave et la tessiture plus étendue du violoncelle. Aussi, la Sonate n° 1 pour violon et piano, transcrite par Klengel, s’avère à l’écoute d’une lumineuse évidence, le violoncelle amenant une profondeur mélancolique illustrant clairement cette période mature de Brahms, en pleine introspection sentimentale. Les deux interprètes, remarquables de musicalité, échangent des confidences passant de la discorde à l’apaisement, dans une intimité toute romantique. Les six lieder qui suivent, sur des transcriptions de Salter, n’altèrent en rien la cohérence du programme, le violoncelle étant l’instrument le plus proche de la voix humaine. Ces chants, sous l’archer bienveillant de Francesco Dillon, excellent, s’avèrent même particulièrement mélodieux et même bouleversants dont un admirable «wiengenlied» (berçeuse), moment fort des lieder. Le maillon faible restant les neuf danses hongroises, transcrites par Piatti, les deux instruments ne pouvant rivaliser avec la version orchestrale. Malgré cette dernière réserve, un beau disque! (Philippe Zanoly)

Arrangements of the First Violin Sonata and groups of songs and Hungarian dances, made by Brahms’s contemporaries for an idiom close to the composer’s heart, in new recordings by an experienced partnership. Brahms, like most composers, had no scruple about arranging his own music for other forces, whether to disseminate it further or earn useful income or both. Sometimes he undertook the transcription of his orchestral works for the popular domestic market of piano duet; on other occasions he left the work to trusted friends and colleagues. Although the composer did not apparently have any other instrument in mind when he wrote the First Violin Sonata, the piece sits peculiarly well on the cello once transposed to the key of D major by the cellist Paul Klengel; its pervasive mood of profound melancholy is even enhanced by the cello’s voice. Clara Schumann recognised the sonata as one of Brahms’s most tender yet regretful tributes to her, and wished that it should be played at her funeral, to which purpose Klengel’s transcription is eminently suited. Norbert Salter (1868-1935) was a cellist who played under Mahler in both Budapest and Hamburg; this is his only published transcription, a set of six Lieder by Brahms which may well have been made under the elderly composer’s supervision. Like the Brahms/Klengel Sonata, this is a sensitive yet now little-known piece of work which deserves modern appreciation. Francesco Dillon and Emanuele Torquati conclude their fourth album for Brilliant Classics in a lighter vein, with nine of the ever-popular Hungarian Dances, arranged to stylish effect by the Italian virtuoso Alfredo Piatti who did so much to advance the cause of the cello as a solo instrument in the 19th century. The Italian duo’s pair of Schumann albums (BC94060 and BC94328) were warmly welcomed in the critical press: reviewing the second volume, Il corriere musicale noted the ‘persuasive, vibrant tone of Francesco Dillon and refined pianism from Emanuele Torquati.’