Shropshire: Classical

Thursday Classical

Thursday 12 February 2026

7:30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

Gerard Flotats: cello
Julian Chan: piano

Gaspar Cassadó: Suite for Solo Cello
Mendelssohn: Variations concertantes, Op.17
Debussy: Cello Sonata, L135
Brahms: Cello Sonata No.2 in F major, Op.99
Messiaen: Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus (from Quatuor pour la fin du temps)

The Catalan cellist, Gerard Flotats and the Malaysian-born pianist, Julian Chan are rising stars on concert platforms everywhere. Their carefully compiled programme brings together five works that chart a fascinating emotional and historical journey through the cello’s expressive world — from the fiery virtuosity of early 20th-century Spain to the radiant spirituality of Messiaen.

The evening opens with Gaspar Cassadó’s Suite for Solo Cello, a work that pays homage to Bach while asserting a distinctly modern, Iberian flavour. Written in 1926 by one of Pablo Casals’s most gifted protégés, the suite blends dance-like rhythms, flirtations with neo-classicism, and flashes of flamenco-inspired bravura. Its three movements form a compact but vibrant portrait of Cassadó’s personality: elegant, melodic, and imbued with a cosmopolitan warmth.

After this solo showcase comes the more intimate lyricism of Mendelssohn’s Variations concertantes, Op. 17, written in 1829 as a gift for his cellist brother Paul. Here Mendelssohn’s trademark lightness and clarity shine through: the theme — poised, graceful, and deceptively simple — unfolds into a series of variations that grow increasingly expressive. The piece is a dialogue in the truest sense, with equal partnership between cello and piano, and a sparkling demonstration of Mendelssohn’s youthful ingenuity.

Debussy’s Cello Sonata, composed during the dark years of World War I, offers a striking contrast. Its compressed structure and elliptical language speak to a composer returning to French musical roots while reshaping them with modernist daring. The opening Prologue is mysterious and improvisatory, followed by a Sérénade full of plucked textures and shadowy harmonies. The finale, though brief, bursts with theatrical energy. It is music of colour and translucence — unmistakably Debussy, but distilled to its essence.

Brahms’s Cello Sonata No. 2 is one of the towering works of the Romantic cello repertoire. Written in 1886, the sonata boasts sweeping, symphonic gestures and a turbulent first movement that demands both power and nuance. The slow movement offers some of Brahms’s most ardent writing, while the scherzo crackles with rhythmic charge. The finale brings resolution in music of muscular confidence and architectural breadth.

Closing the recital, Olivier Messiaen’s Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus offers a moment of profound stillness. Conceived in a prisoner-of-war camp in 1941, this movement from Quatuor pour la fin du temps pairs a rapt, suspended piano line with an expansive cello melody that seems to stretch beyond earthly time. It is a meditation on eternity — luminous, prayerful, and transformative.

This concert is suported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.

Tickets £22.00 (u18 £7.00) from Ludlow Assembly Rooms box office HERE