This album consists almost entirely of live concert recordings, meaning no audio editing was possible to remove ambient noise from the room or audience, which contributes to their authentic, lively, and energetic feel.
Instruments
Most of the works on this album were performed by Françoise Groben on a cello made by Matteo Goffriller in 1695, which was provided to her by Banque Générale Luxembourg.
Performer Biography
Françoise Groben died unexpectedly in 2011, leaving behind a rich musical legacy that is now being made accessible to the public in this "In Memoriam" CD box set.
Composition History
Claude Debussy's short Cello Sonata in D minor, composed in 1915, was intended to be the first of six sonatas for various instrumental combinations, but the seriously ill composer was only able to complete two.
Performer Biography
Françoise Groben's ancestors were weavers in old Luxembourg, specializing in "coarse" fabrics, a trade reflected in their family name and whose loom is still in a museum.
Performer Biography
Françoise Groben, a cellist born in Luxembourg in 1965, studied in Cologne and won 2nd prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1990, launching her international career.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Sofia Gubaidulina's "Seven Words" for violoncello, bayan (a Russian accordion), and orchestra assigns the declamatory role, typically for vocalists, to the cello and bayan.
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A Jacqueline du Pré Recital
Ode à la nuit
Vierne, L.: Chamber Music
Themes and Variations
Ligeti / Farkas / Veress / Liszt / Dohnanyi / Weiner / Mihaly: Hungarian Cello Music
Adagietto
Souvenirs
Szymanowski, Chopin & Others: Works for Cello & Piano (Live at Oratorio San Filippo Neri, Bologna, 9/25/2014)
Imagination
Works for Cello and Piano by Chopin, Schumann and Grieg
