HANS GÁL (1890-1987): Cello Sonata, Op. 89, Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 109a, Suite for Solo Cello, Op. 109b.

Description: The two solo pieces date from 1982 and make up Gál's next-to-last opus number. As throughout his career, they are based on melody with the use of the cello's entire registers exploited but always at the service of a clear musical argument in late romantic style. The sonata of 1953 is also firmly in the Viennese classical tradition but, at the youthful age of 63, Gál had a wider emotional palette to work with than in the serene, backward-looking solo works of his extreme old age. Alfia Nakipbekova (cello), Jakob Fichert (piano).