Music of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Bach, Mozart,
Chopin, and others. HAUSER, cello; London Symphony Orchestra. Sony 19075988532.
By John J. Puccio
He’s young; he’s handsome; he’s talented. He is (or was)
one half of the crossover phenomenon called the 2CELLOS. Now he’s also a
singles act, a gifted cellist that Sony appears to be marketing as another
Mario Lanza. He is so big, in fact, that Stjepan Hauser has now outgrown his
name and is just HAUSER. Yet so big that his name can only be accommodated by
capital letters (like 2CELLOS), making him, I suppose, even bigger than
Liberace or Cher. You can see where I’m going with this.
HAUSER’s latest release, “Classic HAUSER,” is more like a
pop concert than an actual classical album. Yes, it says “Classic” in the
title, but Sony is clearly going after the youth market here, no doubt mainly
young women who may swoon over both the Romanticism of the music and the good
looks of the artist. The disc comprises sixteen selections, the longest being
around eight minutes and the majority being closer to the pop standard of four
minutes or less. A booklet note tells us the final item, Barber’s Adagio for
Strings, is 0:00 minutes. You can’t get much shorter than that. (Actually,
it’s 7:57.)
I’ve mentioned this before, but I can’t help thinking of
the first “classical” album I ever bought: a boxed LP set of the 101 Strings
playing parts of famous classical pieces. But they were complete parts, like
entire movements of longer works. Here, HAUSER plays brief portions of popular
classical music, most of them written for other instruments and transcribed for
cello.
He plays the pieces beautifully, of course, and the London
Symphony Orchestra backs him with their usual grace and accomplishment. But the
music is still in bits and pieces, meant to satisfy fans of the soloist who are
not necessarily fans of classical music. So, I guess what I’m saying is to be
aware of what you’re getting. You may be satisfied for a moment or two, but you
may also long for more.
 |
| HAUSER |
Here’s a rundown on the album’s contents:
1. Tchaikovsky - Swan
Lake
2. Rachmaninoff -
Second Piano Concerto
3. Dalla - Caruso
4. Bach - Air
On a G String
5. Tchaikovsky - The
Nutcracker Suite
6. Mozart - Concerto
for Clarinet
7. Chopin - Nocturne
in C Sharp
8. Mascagni - Intermezzo
from Cavalierra Rusticana
9. Yiruma - River
Flows in You
10. Handel - Lascia Ch'io Pianga
11. Last - The Lonely Shepherd
12. Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21
13. Borodin - Nocturne
14. Puccini - Nessun Dorma
15. Mozart - Lacrimosa
16. Barber - Adagio for Strings
HAUSER’s sound is lush and sonorous, depending on the
selection. his tone golden, and his flexibility in handling all kinds of
musical moments nigh perfect. I just wish he had more to work with than the
golden oldies he presents here. While it’s all quite lovely, it’s all out of
context, too, and all rather brief. What can we expect next? The Beatles
Songbook, perhaps? And he would doubtless do it justice.
Producer Nick Patrick and engineers Neil Hutchinson and Simon
Rhodes recorded the music at Henry Wood Hall, London in June 2019. The sound is
befitting the nature of a pop album: It’s fairly close up, vivid in its detail,
and somewhat flat in its perspective, with the soloist always well front and
center. It’s also very loud, perhaps in anticipation of its being played in an
automobile.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
Perhaps a little harsh. Remember he's trying to introduce new people to classical music. Longer pieces would have severely tested their attention spans. Also of course he's the focal point because he is the reason people are listening to this.
ReplyDeletePlease give Mr. Houser credit for trying to please the millions, young and older. No one is perfect! Jesus was perfect and not everyone believe in him.
ReplyDeleteTake what this reviewer says with a big oil salt lick. The album is excellent. Hauser is a brilliant cellist that effortlessly acquits this genre for a new generation. Much like Daniel Hope and Max Richter with their renditions of Vivaldi, Hauser is simply masterful with the cello.
ReplyDelete