Annette Cleary (cello)/Peter Dains (piano)

{TABLE} Sonata No 2 in G minor, Op 5 No .... Beethoven Sonata No 5 in D, Op 102 No 2 ..... Beethoven {/TABLE} THE Lane Gallery was packed for last Sunday's midday recital in which Annette Cleary (cello) and Peter Dains (piano) played two of Beethoven's Cello Sonatas - the rest are to follow in February.

Annette Cleary has a sweet tone and much lyrical feeling and at times she had to struggle to be heard against the forceful and almost overbearing piano playing of Peter Dains. It was as if the two players had different conceptions of the music and one missed that almost magical undulation of emphases which occurs when attention passes from one instrument to the other or wavers between the two.

The comparatively simple and light hearted Sonata No. 2 suffered most from the unequal partnership. It might have helped if the lid of the piano had been lowered on to the short stick, but in the Adagio of Sonata No. 5 the players succeeded in striking a satisfactory balance of sound levels and in making phrase flow into phrase.

The opening of the fugato in the final movement was noticeably well balanced, but as the music grew more tempestuous the cello lost out to the piano again. The percussive possibilities of the piano need to be firmly kept in check in these sonatas so that the cello can be heard to sing throughout, even when it has an accompanying role.