Saturday, December 8

Accompanying Gouzios (Dieleusis Concert Hall)

This took place about a week ago, and I felt really privileged to play with such an outstanding musician: Dimitris Gouzios is the lead cellist of the Athens State Orchestra, and an excellent and very inspiring musician, indeed! 

I've never played with the cello before, and one of the main reasons why I wanted to do so was to be able to perform one of my favorite works of all time - Brahms Cello Sonata in E Minor.  I've already dedicated a post to this work but, having practiced it (a lot) and having played it, I can assure you that this is a very difficult piece of music: it requires intense and unfailling concentration, otherwise the work can easily collapse - this applies mostly to the 3rd movement
The score is typically "Brahmsian" as far as technique and style is concerned, and lots of rehearsal is definitely required, the question of "togetherness" being crucial and not at all easy.  All in all, this is a great and very demanding piece of music, the most difficult chamber music piece I've ever played.  And I thoroughly enjoyed performing it in public. Dimitris had played this work many times in the past, which was reassuring, and was able to give me directions and performing "tips" - much appreciated.

The rest of the program consisted of short, charming pieces chosen by Dimitris, and accompanied by his daughter Myrto (Cello Continuo) -  plus a solo transcription for piano (Volodos/Tchaikovky, "Lullaby in a storm"). Here is the program:  




The really exciting moment was at the end!  The last piece was The Battle of Marathon, composed by Gouzios himself. It begins with a meditativo kind of introduction which prepares the ground for the coming fireworks.  Someone was kind enough to film and record this particular performance, so you can click on the youtube link here below and enjoy it!


 

 

 

1 comment:

Frank David said...

Thank you for sharing. Sure, your Brahms must have been great. You are made for chamber music: May be you will like it more and more?