A Golden Cello Decade, 1878-88 Bruch: Kol Nidrei; Dvořák: Four Romantic Pieces, Op. 75; Le Beau: Cello Sonata; R Strauss: Cello Sonata; ED Wagner: Schir Zijon – ‘Kol Nidrei’; I Nathan: Oh! Weep for those Steven Isserlis (cello), Olivia Jageurs (harp), Connie Shih (piano) Hyperion CDA68394 76:08 mins
1878-88 truly was a ‘golden’ decade, with the arrival of cello sonatas from Grieg, Strauss, Brahms, Franck and Fauré’s Élégie. But this album’s focus is on the constellation of lesser-known works around those stars, in this case, the Strauss (in its original version).
A stand out is the Op. 17 sonata of Luise Adopha le Beau (1878), a work of tremendous drive, elegance and confidence. Taught by her composer father (she was a fine pianist who apparently clashed with Clara Schumann), Le Beau has clear mastery over the contemporary idiom: the music is suffused by Mendelssohn but never derivative. Her Allegro molto explodes into life with fiery tremolo and angular ambition, while the very beautiful slow movement has a floating stillness which flowers into song. No cellist alive can match the eloquent intent of Steven Isserlis’s line. Every phrase he threads through the warm embrace of Connie Shih’s pianism is articulated and ‘breathed’ with the ardour of a great vocalist, while his mercurial energy sets alight the Allegro vivace.
The original version of Strauss’s Cello Sonata (only published in 2020) may betray naivety but is also captivating (try the second subject of the Adagio), and this duo generate laughter in the very sound of its high-spirited Finale. It was an inspired idea to bring harp and piano together for Bruch’s Kol Nidrei (and to hear versions of the prayer by Jewish composers of the time). Still, the emotional heart of the disc must be Dvořák’s extraordinary Romantic Piece No. 4: as the composer remarked: ‘people will weep here’.
Helen Wallace
