Beethoven's two sonatas of Op. 102 and Schumann's Five Pieces in Folk Style, also Op. 102, seem to have little in common apart from their shared opus numbers and the fact that each was composed near the end of their respective composers' output. Their juxtaposition on an album is not entirely bizarre, but the liner notes provide no explanation of why cellist
Quirine Viersen and pianist
Silke Avenhaus chose to create their program the way they did.
Viersen's playing throughout is soulful and intimate, although she turns to glissandos as an emotive tool more often than some listeners may appreciate. Her tone is lean but never thin or strident, and her intonation is refreshingly precise. Interpretively,
Viersen doesn't offer anything new or revolutionary, but just does her best to deliver a solid, reliable recording. She comes very close to achieving this goal, were it not for Columns Classics' largely unacceptable sound quality. Both the piano and cello sound very distant and balance between the two is poor. Passagework, particularly on the D and G strings, is practically inaudible and rhythm comes out as mushy and imprecise.
Viersen has recorded on several different labels in her short career, some of which have done a much better job of capturing the precision of her playing.