A splendid night of 20th-century cello music with Nicolas Altstaedt and Aleksandar Madžar

By Zoltán Szabó, 13 September 2017

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“so compelling that witnessing it, exhilarating as it was, felt almost akin to eavesdropping”

Reviewed at City Recital Hall, Sydney on 11 September 2017

Debussy, Cello Sonata in D minor

Boulanger, 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano

Barber, Sonata for cello and piano in C minor, Op.6

Jankowski, New Work (world première)

Shostakovich, Cello Sonata in D minor, Op.40

Nicolas Altstaedt, Cello

Aleksandar Madžar, Piano

Beethoven or bust: anniversary series launched at Wigmore Hall

Mark Pullinger, 15th September

Early and late Beethoven in the closing two recitals of Wigmore Hall's Beethoven Festival Weekend.

****1

Virtuosity of Gesture: Anthony Marwood and Aleksandar Madzar

Bachtrack reviewer, 20th April

For its season finale, Soundings: New Music at the Nasher presented violinist Anthony Marwood and pianist Aleksandar Madzar in a program advertised as “a dialogue of caprice and masterpiece.

***11

Gemma New the LPO: a blockbuster night on the Southbank

Susannah Moody, 12th November

The LPO tackled California wildfires and star-crossed lovers in a theatrical evening at the Royal Festival Hall.

*****

Revelatory Philharmonia debut from Tabita Berglund at the Anvil

David Truslove, 28th May

Superbly responsive performances of standard repertoire given a new lease of life by a young Norwegian conductor in Basingstoke.

*****

German efficiency, Hungarian goulash, Turkish delight

Peter Quantrill, 2nd June

A cello concerto by CPE Bach headlines Nicolas Altstaedt's appearance at the Istanbul Music Festival with the Munich Chamber Orchestra.

****1

Guggeis brings sensitivity to Strauss at the Staatsoper Berlin

Edward Sava-Segal, 6th May

A young conductor and a venerable orchestra unite in Berlin for three 20th-century works, covering vastly different soundscapes.

****1

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Zoltán Szabó

Zoltán Szabó is a cellist and musicologist. Having migrated from his native Hungary to Australia in 1985, he worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney until 1991, when he became Principal Cello with Opera Australia. In 2017, he was awarded with a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Currently, he is teaching music history and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.