Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Sonate n° 2 pour violoncelle et piano, op. 58

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Solveigs Lied, pour violoncelle et piano
Sonate pour violoncelle et piano en la mineur, op. 36

Anatolijus Senderovas (1945-)
Fragment de "David's Song", pour violoncelle et quatuor à cordes

Osvaldas Balakauskas (1937-)
Bop-Art, pour violoncelle, piano et percussion

Walter Braunfels (1882-1954)
Quintette à cordes en fa dièse mineur, op. 63

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Valse triste, op. 44 n° 1 (arr. pour violoncelle et piano)

Vytautas Laurusas (1930-)
Concento di corde

Dimitri Chostakovitch (1906-1975)
Trio pour violoncelle, violon et piano, op. 67

David Geringas, violoncelle
Ian Fountain, piano
Petras Geniusas, piano
Vladimir Tarasov, percussion
Vytautas Sondeckis, violoncelle
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, violon
Jascha Nemtsov, piano
Vilnius Quartet
Quatuor Gringolts

Pour célébrer les 70 ans du violoncelliste lituanien David Geringas, le label Hänsslet Classic a eu l'excellente idée de réunir dans un CD une selection de ses meilleures interprétations. On y trouve des compositeurs très divers allant de Félix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) et Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) aux contemporains Vytautas Laurusas (1930-) et Osvaldas Balakauskas (1937-), tous deux lituaniens. Elève de Mstislav Rostropovitch au Conservatoire Tchaïkovsky, où il obtient le premier prix en 1970, David Geringas est un digne représentant de l'école russe du violoncelle. Si son interprétation de la Sonate op.36 de Grieg est la preuve de sa grande virtuosité, son arrangement du Solveigs Lied du même compositeur illustre l'expressivité de son jeu. Quant aux Trio op.67 de Dimitri Schostakovich (1906-1975) et Quintette op.63 de Walter Braunfels (1882-1864), ils rappellent quel merveilleux chambriste est le violoncelliste lituanien. En prime, le livret comprend une passionnante interview de Geringas dans laquelle le musicien se livre avec sincérité. Cet enregistrement est donc une porte d'entrée idéale à l'univers de ce grand violoncelliste aux près de 40 ans de carrière et plus de 50 albums. (Charles Romano)

It was drilled into me from an early age that at every concert the music must sound the same as it does the first time. Initially, while learning with my teacher, I could not understand that because I was playing all the pieces for the first time. But later, having frequently played many pieces, I saw the truth behind this idea. Unlike other forms of art, such as painting and literature, music itself cannot be enjoyed as an object, as books and paintings can. A piece of music exists only when it is being played and can be heard. You must be able to play the piece as if you have only just discovered it. It will then sound particularly convincing. You follow in the composer's footsteps and discover the piece. If you play only what you have learnt, then you'll end up with a copy of the work or a study piece (be it a good or bad one). However, you omit to do what the composer actually intended. To play it each time as if it were the first time will inevitably produce a different result each time. There are people who say: "Ah, I know the piece", but I struggle to relate to that. You don't know the piece until it has been played in concert. Everything that happened before is just a mem ory. However, what we remember is constantly being changed by the passage of time, our mood and our liking for the composer or performer. There are many factors that influence our memory and, consequently, our knowledge of a piece. Whenever a listener sits before me, it is important to intrigue him so that he gets the most out of my performance to him. I think it's important to embrace the moment, which I believe can never be the same again (David Geringas).