Nadia Boulanger – Trois Pièces for Cello and Piano
Salina Fisher – Mono no aware (物の哀れ)
Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata No. 4 in C major, Op. 102 No. 1
Sergei Prokofiev – Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 119
Martin Smith (cello), Liam Furey (piano)
A programme of striking contrasts beginning with Nadia Boulanger’s Trois Pièces – a treasure of miniature gems rich with colour and quiet melancholy. New Zealand composer Salina Fisher’s Mono no aware follows, bringing a contemplative stillness that explores beauty in impermanence. Beethoven’s Sonata No. 4 in C major, written at the beginning of his late period, offers a masterwork of structural invention and probing emotional depth.
We close with Prokofiev’s sweeping Cello Sonata, a generous and lyrical work composed in gratitude to the young Mstislav Rostropovich for playing his neglected 1st Cello Concerto. An instant success, it quickly became – and remains – a cornerstone of the cello repertoire.
