Carol Ou

Great artists give free concerts at New England Conservatory—simply because they teach here.

NEC faculty cellist Carol Ou is joined by pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera this evening in several sonatas for cello and piano, including Debussy's Sonata, Schubert's Sonata in A Minor for arpeggione and piano, D. 821 (version for cello), and Franck's Sonata in A Major.

Ou will perform Ysaÿe's Sonata, Op. 28 solo.

Pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera has previously collaborated with noted soloists such as David Shifrin, Matt Haimovitz, Carter Brey, Antonio Menesis, Aurora-Natalie Ginastera, Yo-Yo Ma, and Leonard Rose.

Regarding the chosen repertoire for tonight's concert, Ou writes:

Spanning exactly a century, 1824-1924, the four Sonatas by Debussy, Schubert, Ysaÿe and Franck are the most imaginative, sublime, and brilliant works written for the cello. The four great composers represented all influenced each other significantly.

Written in 1824, Schubert's heavenly "Arpeggione" Sonata was written for the fretted guitar-cello: the arpeggione, which had a short period of popularity in the early 1800s. Many of Schubert's compositions served as models for the great Belgian organ virtuoso and composer, Cesar Franck, who in turn inspired Claude Debussy.  Eugene Ysaÿe, also Belgian, was a close friend and great interpreter of both Debussy and Franck's music. Franck's brilliant and sunny violin sonata, transcribed for the cello, was dedicated to Ysaye in 1886.

The two 20th century works on the program, Debussy and Ysaÿe's sonatas, are truly original works. Written in 1916, shortly before he died, Debussy's sonata is subtitled "Pierrot mad at the moon" and shows a drunken Pierrot madly serenading the moon. Ysaÿe's rarely performed solo cello sonata was written in 1924, and is the only unaccompanied cello work he wrote. It is dramatically and harmonically rich, with a gorgeous second movement which emulates a medieval bard tenderly serenading his beloved.