WarnerNuzova Brings Beethoven to the Phillips

WarnerNuzova performing in the Music Room (Photo by Benjamin Resine)

(Photo by Benjamin Resine)

Cellist Wendy Warner and pianist Irina Nuzova of the duo WarnerNuzova performed the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas and Variations over two consecutive Sundays in April.  The concerts were a rare chance to experience impeccably refined artists giving respect to the breadth of Beethoven’s development as a composer from 1796 through 1815.  The juxtaposition of these works for one medium in such an intimate setting made me feel like I could understand Beethoven better as a human, not just a powerful music icon.  The struggle of his intellectual growth both musically and politically along with his steps toward more personal expression and then reflection was palpable.

Click below to listen to an excerpt of the Allegro from Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5, No. 1” (1796)

Click below to listen to the Allegro: Allegro fugato from “Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2” (1815)

Casey Fox Smith, Music Program Intern