44. Crespo Midday Series

44. Crespo Midday Series
The German-Irish cellist, Nuala McKenna, has chosen another imaginative programme. Ligeti’s early cello Sonata is in two separate movements, each composed for a different cellist. Despite its easy-going beauty it fell foul of the Soviet Composers Union and waited 25 years for its first public performance. Joseph Dall’Abaco was an eighteenth century cellist and composer born in Brussels. Little of his music has survived but his Caprices are considered to be worthy successors to Bach’s Suites. Kodály’s Solo Sonata is utterly unique in this repertoire. Bartók got it exactly right when he wrote: ‘No other composer has written music that resembles this. Kodály expresses completely original ideas with the simplest of means’. The virtuoso challenges for the performer verge on the impossible, indeed listening to a performance it is hard to believe what you are hearing. It will be an overwhelming experience hearing this remarkable work close up in our small recital venue.