BRAHMS: Cello Sonata in E minor — Op. 38; Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 99.
SCHUMANN: Fantasiestücke, Op. 73. Arto Noras, cello; Juhani Lagerspetz, piano.
Apex 09274 05982 [66:16]
The Finnish cellist Arto Noras has been around long enough—and played well enough—that one wonders why his name doesn’t surface more often in discussions of the instrument’s modern masters. This 1996 album of the Brahms sonatas, now reissued on Warner’s budget Apex label, makes a strong case for reassessment. Noras possesses that particular kind of technical security that allows him to think past the mechanics.
His tone is substantial without being glutinous, focused without turning steely. In the opening measures of the E minor Sonata, where Brahms sets that magnificent arching theme against spare accompaniment, Noras spins the line; with what sounds like complete naturalness—though anyone who’s wrestled with this music knows how much craft goes into making those long phrases breathe properly. The tempo is spacious, perhaps even a shade deliberate by some standards, but it gives the cellist room to shape each gesture without hurrying.
What strikes me most forcefully is the intelligence of Noras’s approach to these works. He seems to understand that Brahms, even in his most rhapsodic moments, never entirely abandons architectural thinking. The development section of that first movement—with its fugal working-out that so clearly nods to Bach—emerges here with unusual clarity.
You can actually hear the contrapuntal lines without sacrificing warmth or emotional directness. The F major Sonata receives an equally thoughtful reading, though here the interpretive challenges are rather different. This is the more extroverted of the two works, written when Brahms was in his early fifties and still capable of surprising himself.
The opening "Allegro" vivace needs momentum—it must press forward—and Noras delivers without sounding rushed. There’s a lovely elasticity to his phrasing in the second theme, where the cello climbs into its upper register with that characteristic Brahmsian mixture of yearning and restraint. I’m less convinced by some details in the slow movement.
Noras takes the "Adagio" affettuoso quite broadly, which is defensible, but occasionally the line threatens to fragment. When Brahms writes those long, searching phrases—the ones that seem to keep reaching — for something just beyond grasp—the cellist needs to maintain an almost unbearable tension. Here it sometimes relaxes prematurely.
Still, the basic conception is sound, and there are moments of genuine beauty, particularly in the middle section where the piano’s chorale-like texture supports the cello’s meditation. Juhani Lagerspetz proves an intelligent partner throughout, though the recorded balance does him few favors. The piano sits slightly too far back in the acoustic space—a common problem in cello recordings, where engineers seem terrified of obscuring the string sound.
This is particularly unfortunate in Brahms, where the piano writing is so substantial. Listen to the fugue in the E minor Sonata: Lagerspetz’s articulation is admirably clear, — but you have to lean in to hear the full detail of what he’s doing. The Schumann Fantasiestücke make a logical coupling, though these charming pieces—originally conceived for clarinet or violin—feel almost too lightweight after the Brahms.
They were written in 1849, during one of Schumann’s more productive periods, before the final decline. Noras plays them with affection, resisting the temptation to overload them with significance they cannot bear. The middle piece, marked “Lebhaft, leicht,” skips along nicely; the outer movements have the right touch of Romantic introspection without turning maudlin.
That particular brightness of period instruments catches the ear.
Technical standards throughout are high. Noras produces a remarkably even sound across the instrument’s range—no small achievement—and his intonation is secure even in the most treacherous passages. The recording itself — made in Järvenpää Hall, captures a pleasing warmth without excessive resonance, though as I’ve noted, the balance could be better.
This isn’t a library choice for these works—I’d still reach first for Fournier with his various partners, or for the Isserlis/Hough collaboration if I wanted something more recent. But at budget price, and given the consistent intelligence of the music-making, this disc deserves attention. Noras may not have the instantly recognizable profile of some of his colleagues, but he’s a serious instrumentalist with something to say.
That counts for a good deal.
