The Singing Cello

Featuring

Niklas Schmidt
John Chen
Franz Schubert
Ludwig van Beethoven

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Performer Biography

Niklas Schmidt, the cellist on this album, is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Trio Fontenay and plays a violoncello made by Giovanni Battista Rogeri around 1700.

Composer Biography

Franz Schubert, a renowned Lieder composer, suffered from acute syphilis starting in late 1822, undergoing physically draining treatments through 1823 and 1824.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Franz Schubert, despite being known for Lieder, had high artistic ambitions, aspiring to compose cantatas, quartets, operas, and symphonies.

Instruments

The arpeggione, for which Schubert wrote his sonata, was a short-lived instrument developed in 1823 by Viennese luthier Johann Georg Staufer, combining features of the cello and guitar.

Performer Biography

John Chen, the pianist on this album, won the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2004 as its youngest participant and has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician.

Composition History

Beethoven's three variation works for cello and piano on this album are based on themes from Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabaeus and Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.