British Solo Cello Music (CD review)

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Tema ‘Sacher’; Cello Suite No. 3; (Themes used in the Cello Suite - Mournful Song; Autumn; Street Song; Kontakion); Sir William Walton (1902-1983): Theme for a Prince; Passacaglia; John Gardiner (1917-2011): Coranto Pizzicato; Frank Merrick (1886-1981): Suite in the Eighteenth-Century Style; Thomas Adés (b. 1971): Sola. Steven Isserlis, cello; Mishka Rushdie Momen, piano. Hyperion CDA68373.

By Karl W. Nehring

Cellist Steven Isserlis (b. 1958) is a major figure on the British music scene, something like Yo-Yo Ma in the United States. His gregarious personality and sparkling with make him an interesting person to follow on Twitter. It is of course it is his virtuosity on the cello that primarily interests us here, although his talent as a writer also enhances this release, for he has written the liner notes, which are both informative and entertaining. Even his hair contributes to the production, adding an intriguing visual image to the front cover of the CD.

The program opens with two compositions by that giant of 20th-century British music, Benjamin Britten. The brief (1:37) Tema ‘Sacher’, a bold, energetic musical statement based on the letters of his teacher Sacher’s name in musical notation, written as a musical gift in honor of Sacher’s 70th birthday in 1976. Other composers who contributed works in this vein included Dutilleux, Lutoslawski, Holliger, Henze, Berio, and Boulez. Then comes his Cello Suite No. 3, a substantial work ranging over 13 movements and lasting 23 minutes in Isserlis’s rendition. The music is passionate, at times troubled, very expressive and moving. Isserlis’s liner notes tell of a connection with Britten’s concern for the plight of his friend Shostakovich having an influence on the music. In any event, this is serious music that rewards serious listening. Following on the heels of the solo cello suite, Isserlis lightens the mood by adding the sound of Ms. Momen’s piano to that of his cello as they play three brief themes that served as a basis for the suite. Isserlis then returns to his solo cello to play Britten’s adaptation of Kontakion, a Russian Orthodox chant that was the fourth underlying theme of the suite (the liner notes go into more detail on these themes and how Britten used them).   

Walton’s brief (1:28) Theme for a Prince was written as part of a collection of 14 pieces composed in 1969 to honor Prince Charles’s 19th birthday. The more substantial Passacaglia was written for the great Russian cellist Mtsislav Rostropovich (1927-2007). Interestingly enough, Isserlis reveals in his liner notes that when he heard Rostropovich play it in 1982, the piece did not make much of an impression on him, nor did he think much of it when he received a copy of the score some time later. Only recently did he come to appreciate the piece, and thus came to record it. It is something of a rugged-sounding piece, rough and ready if you will, but earnest and direct.

After the earnestness of the Walton piece, the playfulness of the Gardiner Coranto pizzicato, which Isserlis opines “is evidently inspired by Elizabethan lute music,” is a nice change of pace. Isserlis does some lively plucking; both his playing and his liner note anecdotes regarding Gardiner reveal that Isserlis is in especially high spirits when it comes to this particular piece. I will confess that I had never heard of the next composer on the program, Fran Merrick, before encountering this CD, but Isserlis spins quite a tale of tale of meeting the composer when the cellist was still just a boy. Merrick’s Suite in the Eighteenth-Century Style is the longest composition on this CD, stretching out to nearly 34 minutes. It is something of a tribute to the music of Bach; as a matter of fact, I recently spent some time enjoying the Bach Cello Suites as performed by the late Janos Starker on a Mercury Living Presence 2-CD set, and listening to the Merrick Suite feels like a natural follow-up, which is high praise indeed. The program ends with a brief (2:11) piece by contemporary composer Thomas Adés. Isserlis notes that the composer wrote it on one Saturday night and faxed it to a cellist friend. To these ears, the back story is more interesting that the music, which is listenable but not much more.

Overall, this is a rewarding release. The liner notes really are fascinating, with personal anecdotes and insights about the composers and the music that really add to the album. The sound quality is balanced and natural, highlighting the expressive range of Isserlis’s “Marquis de Corberon” Stradivarius of 1726, which he has on loan from the Royal Academy of Music. It is a beautiful instrument, beautifully played. Bravo!

KWN