Sibbe Live!: Duo Evening

15.10.2025 19:00 – 20:00

Standard price 15€ + order fee (from 1,50 € + 0,65 % of the order)

Studerande/pensioners/children 12€ + order fee (from 1,50 € + 0,65 % of the order)

← All events

At this duo concert, two sonatas for cello and piano will be performed, both belonging to the early compositional periods of Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Strauss.

Beethoven’s first two cello sonatas were composed during his performance tour in Berlin in 1796, and they are dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II. Of these, the second sonata in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2, which will be performed here, is more dramatic than the first sonata in F major. This two-movement sonata begins with a slow, contemplative introduction that transitions into a fast main section. It starts with a melancholic sway but soon plunges into intense drama. The final movement in G major, written in rondo form, is full of energy and virtuosity.

Richard Strauss’s cello sonata, composed when he was just 19, follows the traditional three-movement structure: fast–slow–fast. The first movement, Allegro con brio, begins with energetic grandeur, contrasted by a gentle secondary theme. The second movement, Andante ma non troppo, feels like a serious and mature composition from an older composer, while the third movement, Allegro vivo, highlights the playfulness that characterizes Strauss’s musical language. In his first manuscript, Strauss added a verse by Austrian poet Franz Grillparzer:

Music, eloquent,
is at the same time silent.
It says nothing of the individual,
but gives us the entire universe.

Matti Moilanen graduated as a cello teacher from the Turku Conservatory in 1990. After graduation, he worked in the Oulu City Orchestra as assistant principal cellist and later as principal cellist. Today, he teaches cello as a senior lecturer at the Turku Conservatory. Matti Moilanen is an active and versatile musician, performing regularly as a cellist and chamber musician in various ensembles.

Esa Moilanen received his Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy in 1998. Since then, he has worked in many roles as a musician: soloist, chamber musician, and lied pianist. He has been actively involved in the Pianoaura Association, previously serving as its chairman. His main position is as a senior lecturer in piano at the Turku Conservatory.