Peter Wiley, cello
Anna Polonsky, piano

About This Performance

Greatly admired for his years with the Beaux Arts Trio and the Guarneri Quartet, cellist Peter Wiley makes his annual PCMS appearance—this time in recital with Anna Polonsky, “a chamber musician of exceptional refinement” (New York Times). At the heart of this concert are two masterpieces for cello and piano by Brahms and Mendelssohn. Brahms’s first cello sonata has its roots firmly planted in the music of the past—almost as if he was turning his back on his wild, young self. Mendelssohn’s second cello sonata also demonstrates the pathos of the Romantic period, while remaining grounded in the tenets of Classicism inherited from Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.