The press in the nineteenth-century was unkind to women composers. When they were not prejudged as incompetent, their works were assessed according to the criteria of feminine propriety. Yet, if one were to listen to the cello pieces presented in this concert without knowing the gender of the composers, who would imagine that they were written by women rather than men? Making full use of the instrument’s expressive powers, Rita Strohl, Henriette Renié and Marie Jaëll captivate us, regardless of the standards imposed upon them.
