Various Composers - 'Andante Cantabile' Cello Encores [Harrell/ Canino]

Not sure why this is called 'Andante Cantabile', i think it's a Tchaikovsky piece from his String Quartet 1, transcribed for cello and orchestra, but it's nowhere to be seen here, well i enjoyed these 22 short encore pieces today, it's a great little programme, with some out of the way pieces on it, this is my third time listening to this disc, though it's the first time it's appeared in my Blog.

Lynn Harrell is American, he's now 71, this disc was recorded back in 1988, the cover photo is by Christian Steiner, very well done, a beautiful portrait with cello, and the lettering is equally nice.

So of all these pieces, it was 1, 3-5, 7-8, 11-13, 15 & 17 that i loved the best, that's a lot of music to mention, loved the transcriptions of the French pieces, but ultimately i would like to pick one i would like to talk about, and that's 'An Die Musik' by Schubert, of course the piano plays the piano line, and the cello plays the vocal line, it's a beautiful tune, and if you know the words they're touching, it's in two stanzas, and the second is played more delicate than the first by the cello [1:16+], and at the end Harrell ekes out an extra ounce of pathos [2:00], the piano solo at the end of each verse is a real highlight [1:02-1:15 & 2:12-2:31], where Schubert has the piano making the most incredible pleas, a little masterpiece, each of the other short pieces is a little marvel also.

Here's Varoujan Bartikian playing 'An Die Musik' on YouTube.

Various Composers - French Cello Encores 'Apres Un Reve' [Maisky /Hovora] 

I like these encore recitals, they really fill a gap that is hard to obtain any other way, and besides, most of these are transcriptions of French Melodies, Maisky seems to revel in albums like this, not everything is successful, of course there are some duds, and maybe that's to do with the choice of repertoire, but there's enough hits to make this a valuable disc in any collection, and certainly a well filled disc [over 78 minutes], and for once maybe there's too much music!, and maybe being a little judicious could have cut out the duds, raising the average quality higher, of course you can always skip any tracks you don't like, but i'm the sort of person that believes an album is an album for a purpose, and i listen to everything on a disc, maybe the less impressive pieces will rub off on me.

Mischa Maisky is Latvian, he is now 65, he recorded this disc in 1999, the front cover photo [by Suzie Maeder] is a very excellent one, a great head and shoulders portrait of Maisky, whatever he's wearing i love it, it actually looks like the stuff that divides a box of chocolates from an upper and lower layer!, or a tin of biscuits or something, it's a perfectly posed shot, nicely balanced, and the lettering perfectly complements the picture, and the DG logo is unobtrusive, a disc that's made all the more desirable by its visuals.

The tracks that i really liked were 1 & 9-11, and instead of discussing each one, i would rather give a more major synopsis of the one i found to have touched me the most, which is track 10 Massenet's Elegie,

10 Massenet / Elegie - Originally a vocal piece, but Massenet re-composed it for cello and orchestra, and here it's presented for just cello and piano, it only lasts barely over 2 minutes [2:09], but what an impression it makes, it certainly sounds tragic in nature, the 'weeping' of the cello with a backdrop of the 'tolling' of the piano, the vocals represent Electra's outpouring of grief at the tomb of Agamemnon, which include the words, 'The carefree sun has gone out..., and likewise my heart is gloomy and cold', Maisky brings out this grief perfectly, making the cello sing in sadness, the opening tune is so touching [0:00-0:40], and then a middle section, which initially sounds more upbeat [0:41-1:10], but soon plunges back into depression, the opening tune comes back [1:10-1:29], this time sounding even more forlorn, and at the end there's almost a sense of acceptance, it's a beautiful piece, full of real pathos, and a joy to get to know today.

Here's Kassandra Dimopoulou playing Massenet's Elegie on YouTube.