The Conquering Hero is the title of a recent 3-CD set release on the Avie Records label that features Jennifer Kloetzel and pianist Robert Koenig in performances of Beethoven’s complete sonatas for piano and cello, Sonata with Horn or Cello Op. 17 as well as three of the composer’s variations for cello and piano. In the CD booklet Kloetzel says that a fascination with Beethoven’s music began at age eight and “Since then, rarely has a day passed without Beethoven’s music factoring into my life.” She enjoys an admired international career as chamber musician and soloist, having been a founding member of the Cypress String Quartet (they disbanded in 2016 after a highly successful run) of which recordings include Beethoven’s complete string quartets on Avie Records (2014/2016).
In addition to performing commitments, Kloetzel and Koening are fellow faculty members at the University of California, Santa Barbara serving as Head of Strings and Collaborative Piano programs respectively. This CD contains works that were composed between 1796-1815 and Kloetzel clearly shares an interpretative bonding with her go-to composer.
While listening I kept thinking, Jennifer, please be in my quartet, piano trio or any other group. Her playing has all the characteristics of a really fine cognac (with due respect to teetotalers): depth, velvety smoothness, notes of sweetness, brilliance and spice with an elegant finish to each phrase ending. She is a complete musician who tunes into Beethoven’s temperamental and tender sides as evidenced in the five piano/cello sonatas – staples of chamber music literature. She uses nuanced articulation and seamless bowing to produce an atmosphere of sweeping abandon in the opening Adagio/Allegro of sonata Op. 5 No. 2 and layers up piquant shading in the Rondo of Op. 5 No. 1.
Kloetzel brings a kind of organic serenity to the Allegro of sonata Op. 69 No. 3 by giving the opening theme and subsequent twists of modulation beautifully balanced intonation, especially in the upper register, as well as a sense of buoyancy to the Scherzo’s syncopated hop on hop off motives and legato connections. A similar fusion of intimacy and dramatic vitality can be heard in the Andante-Allegro moments of Sonata Op. 102 No. 1 and Op. 102 No. 2 where Kloetzel draws out a lingering recitative to the Adagio’s mysterious inflections that ultimately transition into playful fugal passages.
The variations ‘See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes’ (on a theme from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus), ‘Ein Maedchen oder Weibchen’ (on a theme from Mozart’s The Magic Flute) and ‘Bei Maennern, welche Liebe fuehlen’ (on a theme from Mozart’s The Magic Flute) unfold in crisp, clean and precise delivery from Kloetzel and Koenig. An added treat includes Sonata with Horn or Cello Op. 17, a lesser known work that carries a big bite in terms of virtuosic passages that was written for and premiered by horn player par excellence Punto in 1800 with Beethoven at the keyboard. Kloetzel’s reading packs a punch of sonority and articulate detail to the flourishes of this engaging work.
While it wouldn’t be appropriate to expound more about the characteristics of cognac (assuming I knew of any), it would be a good thing to consider adding this CD to your collection and other upcoming Beethoven recordings Kloetzel has in the works.