FABRICE BOLLON Your Voice Out of the Lamb - Four Lessons of Darkness - Dogmatic Pleasures

YOUR VOICE OUT OF THE LAMB

 

Mari Kodama / Kent Nagano / Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos 0 - 5

                                                         PIANO CONCERTOS 0 - 5

Johannes Moser / Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Thomas Søndergård LUTOSLAWSKI - DUTILLEUX Cello Concertos

This album features cello concertos by Witold Lutosławski and Henri Dutilleux performed by the multiple prize-winning German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, conducted by Thomas Søndergård. These works, premiered in 1970, are two of the biggest gems of the twentieth century, the golden age of the cello. While equally virtuosic and engaging, both pieces showcase different aspects of the musical landscape of the late twentieth century. Lutosławski’s concerto explores the possibilities of chance composition in the form of a duel between the solo cello and a ferocious orchestral accompaniment, in which the individual ultimately prevails. In comparison, soloist and ensemble work together more smoothly in Henri Dutilleux’ “Tout un monde lontain”. In this “cello concerto”, the composer invokes a mystical “world from afar”, inspired by Baudelaire quotes and full of allusions to French musical greats such as Debussy and Messiaen, while simultaneously sounding unmistakably Dutilleuxian.

Mari Kodama / Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Kent Nagano BEETHOVEN The Piano Concertos - Triple Concerto

On the evidence of this set, the husband-and-wife team of Mari Kodama and Kent Nagano enjoy a keen musical rapport. This may not be the greatest or most pristine Beethoven piano concerto cycle on the CD market but it’s pretty good. Try the bold way Kodama tackles her initial entry on the first movement of the First Concerto, while the cadenza is strongly projected (I love the cheeky little arpeggio just before the close), even if some minor detail is lost in the fray, ie in the down figurations at around 12’55”. The Largo is feelingly played and the closing Rondo whizzes along nicely, the odd hurried turn notwithstanding.

The first-movement cadenza of the Second Concerto is perhaps rather earthbound and I wasn’t too sure about the way Kodama gate-crashes the close of the Third Concerto’s initial tutti with her first entry. Then again, at 2’23” into the Largo, her handling of the second set delivers poetry to spare, while her almost imperceptible easing into the closing rondo marks a definite climate change without breaking the spell. The same CD features an affable reading of the Triple Concerto, Nagano proving himself the ideal master of ceremonies, his tempos lively but never overstretched, his manner warmly accommodating without abandoning the limelight. The opening tutti is a fair case in point, Johannes Moser’s first entry quietly mellifluous, Kolja Blacher bowing a bright, silvery line. Thereafter we’re talking chamber music writ large, both soloists sounding in happy accord, Nagano an obvious soulmate. The central ‘song without words’ (which is how the Largo has always struck me) holds fast to a sense of intimacy, the closing Rondo alla polacca a perfectly happy summation, if without the smiling demeanour of, say, the Argerich, Capuçon, Maisky recording.

The Fourth Concerto is nicely done though the Andante con moto’s imploring central cadenza sounds a little prosaic. Best of all is the Emperor’s finale, which lilts along seemingly without a care in the world. Here Kodama is at her best. As to where this set stands in the firmament of great Beethoven concerto recordings, I’d say not terribly high. Pollini with Abbado, Fleisher with Szell, Aimard with Harnoncourt – to name just three obvious rival contenders – all have more to tell us about the music. (Rob Cowan / Gramophone)

Johannes Moser / Andrei Korobeinikov RACHMANINOV - PROKOFIEV Works for Cello and Piano

The achingly beautiful, haunting lyricism of early Rachmaninov and the soaring effusiveness of late Prokofiev are glowingly brought to life by the German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser and the Russian pianist Andrei Korobeinikov in this new release from PENTATONE of richly expressive 20th century cello sonatas and other works.
Composed during troubled periods in the composers’ lives, the cello sonatas are life-affirming works. Rachmaninov’s arresting sonata which he wrote following a nervous breakdown is not unlike his perennially popular Second Piano Concerto: a journey from brooding melancholy to untrammelled joy, with a transcendentally beautiful slow movement. Prokofiev wrote his outstanding sonata while labouring under considerable hardship. It is by turns restrained and movingly lyrical, but the hair-raising final movement with its bravura passagework ends the work in a blaze of defiance. 

“Both Rachmaninov and Prokofiev are genius musical storytellers,” Moser said in a recent interview. “Both have their own very personal and individual language, but they are at the same time deeply rooted in the epic Russian tradition…When we recorded the album, we were very inspired by images of wide open nature, Russian folklore, as well as the longing and humour that both composers share.”
“The Rachmaninov sonata is a piece that I’ve been avoiding for many  years,” he added, “because I was waiting for the right partnership. And so to have a champion of Rachmaninov’s music like Andrei … it’s been very exciting for me to go on that journey with him.”

Described by Gramophone as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists” and by the LA Times as a musician who “…connects with the audience in a way that only great artists do”, this is Johannes Moser’s second outing for PENTATONE. His first album of concertos by Dvořák and Lalo was widely praised for his “performance of enormous flair and effervescence” (BBC Music Magazine) and “his dazzling virtuosity, free, passionate phrasing and immense energy … that recalls Pablo Casals’ iconic 1937 recording” (Strings). And he electrified audiences at this year’s BBC Proms in a performance of Dutilleux’s ‘Tout un monde lointain ...’
About this recording, Moser said “When we were talking about repertoire with PENTATONE, I thought about doing a really core repertoire Russian disc with this amazing Russian pianist [Andrei Korobeinikov]…He is a true master and true champion of this music and I feel very honoured to have him as a partner on this disc.”
Johannes Moser plays on a cello by Andrea Guaneri, made in 1694, from a private collection.