Master Class with Denis Zhdanov (II/IV)

Award-winning Siberian cellist Denis Zhdanov works with Dmitry Silvian on Ligeti's Sonata for Solo Cello in a master class at the Villa Sandra Lesa.

Ligeti's Sonata for Solo Cello, composed between 1948 and 1953, consists of two movements: Dialogo (Adagio, rubato cantabile) and Capriccio (Presto con slancio). The first movement, written by Ligeti toward the end of his schooling, shows the heavy influence of Kodály, while the second movement, written a few years later, is more Bartókian. Censored by the Soviet-run Composer's Union because of the overly "modern" second movement, the work was barred from being played until 1979, from which point on its growing popularity transformed the sonata into a standard of the cello repertoire.