Search - Benjamin Britten, Dmitry Shostakovich, Jurgen Hempel :: Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2; Britten: Third Suite for Cello Solo [Hybrid SACD]

A magnetic reading that's a game-changer for the Shostakovic

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are always neglected works waiting for the tide of neglect to turn. If the Shostakovich Cello Cto. #2 is to rise from relative obscurity compared to its popular twin, the First Concerto, Pieter Wispelwey is the man to do the job. This is a performance to change anyone's mind, akin to Daniel Hope's revelation about the Britten Violin Cto. some months back. I feel chagrined that I had bought into the received opinion that Shostakovich's late (1966) concerto was bleak, tuneless, and obscure. In Wispelwey's hands it seems quite profound and endlessly imaginative.



As befits a work that is both sad and intimate, the Dutch cellist phrases in whispers and sighs that draw the listener in immediately -- every bar brings a new emotional nuance. This style contrasts with Rostropovich's bigger, bolder way; both of Shostakovich's concertos were tailor made for him, their dedicatee. But personal stylistics are only half the story. The other half is Channel Classic's amazingly clear recording, which exposes every detail of Shostakovich's quirky orchestration, which is reminiscent of the witty but enigmatic Sym. #15 -- the tick-tocking xylophone that ends both works is one giveaway. I know it's common for reviewers to praise recorded sound that in reality turns out to be quite ordinary, but here the BBC technical ward that this CD has received is fully justified. Jurjen Hempel's conducing is sympathetic to the soloist, reining in the bite and bitterness of the orchestral part while underlining many musical details.



Rostropovich is the link between Shostakovich and Britten; the three were great friends and colleagues. the two composers were also practical enough to realize that they had a supreme virtuoso to write for. Britten wrote his Suite #3 for solo cello in 1971, very near his death at a time when his style had become just as bleak, spare, and enigmatic as very late Shostakovich. The work is unembarrassed about taking its title and inspiration from Bach's cello suites, and we get modernist versions of a gugue and passacaglia along the way. More often Britten uses the instrument for solitary reflections, spare threnodies, and haunted soliloquy. Only three items are longer than three minutes. It's hard music to love, but Wispelwey's imagination and the perfect recorded sound do everything possible to draw the listener in.



In sum, a non pareil disc that I never expected to bowl me over."

A total success!

William Dodd | Castle Rock, WA USA | 04/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This wonderful disc just won the BBC Music Magazine award for technical excellence--and it well deserved it. Channel Classics seems to be setting the pace for recording quality these days. But more important, this is an incredible, heart wrenching performance by Wispelwey in both works. And the multichannel SACD layer put me right there! Highly recommended!"