Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Joseph Haydn, Richard Tognetti :: Haydn: Cellokonzerte; Beethoven: Romanzen

Not to be missed!

MartinP | Nijmegen, The Netherlands | 02/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What I have heard until now from this amazing cellist (a live Prokovjev Sinfonia Concertante, and his Poulenc/Debussy/Franck EMI disc) all bespeaks of a truly extraordinary talent, and this disc amply confirms the impression. It easily stands comparison with the much liked version I already owned by Heinrich Schiff (Philips); in fact, I prefer this new recording over the older one on just about every count. In some ways Müller-Schott is a Schiff-like cellist: he eschews empty gestures and slick showmanship, and there is a great humanity to his music-making. What makes him an absolute winner is the astonishing delicacy of his playing, the crispness of articulation, and his affectionate shading of tone color. He is of course playing a wonderful instrument; there isn't even a hint of the nasality that so easily mars the higher cello-regions, which Haydn explores with such relish in these works. But there is much more. As soon as the tone darkens, MS summons a completely new voice from his instrument; the bravura of the C-major's opening, tackled with power and gusto, is contrasted with a sotto voce that instantly draws the listener into a highly personal sphere of quiet melancholia. At times the sound is reduced, quite daringly and startlingly, to a mere whisper. In such passages the music suddenly acquires greater portent; a foreshadowing of the Romantic era realized through music-making that remains stylishly eighteenth-century in every detail and is clearly "authentically"-informed, including non-vibrato strings in the orchestra. While I always considered these pieces highly entertaining and beautifully crafted but ultimately innocent works of art, listening to this disc I found myself getting goose bumps on several occasions, in addition to assorted other affective symptoms usually (for me) associated with the more emotionally challenging works of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The partnership with the ACO (judging from the photographs quite as youthful as MS himself) is everything one could wish for. Where they share the limelight with the soloist, delightful conversational exchanges ensue (I was tempted to think of a Jane Austen drawing room full of chattering youngsters); elsewhere they provide discrete but sympathetic accompaniment; and in the introductory passages the playing, with an apt touch of ruggedness, exudes an infectious joy (brilliant horns!). All these glories are excellently reproduced by the Orfeo recording team, though the balance might have favored the woodwinds a little more.
That the Good Lord at times dispenses his gifts rather undemocratically is proved by MS's own, extremely skillful arrangements for cello of the Beethoven violin romances. The result is as convincing as it is intriguing, and I'm not only inclined to agree with the booklet that had Beethoven heard them, they would have appealed to him, but rather suspect they might have prompted him to discard the violin versions altogether. A very clever makeweight for the main works, that together just fall short of filling a disc.
I would say, if you have a liking for these works, or for Haydn, or for the cello, let alone for all three (as I do), this disc is a must-have. Inevitably it will elicit a great liking for Daniel Müller-Schott as well; you will just have to learn to cope with that - which I'm sure in time will become increasingly easy, as this musician seems set to become a highly demanded presence on the international concert stage as well as in the recording studio's. A sympathetic co-fan thought my assessment that MS would reach star status within another year was somewhat optimistic, and I suppose he is right; that, however, merely speaks volumes on the shortcomings of the music business, and has nothing to do with the mind-boggling talent on display here."