Where’s Mutter in the Brahms double?
Album Of The WeekFrom the Lebrecht Album of the Week:
… The latest recording is by Anne-Sophie Mutter and a protégé of hers, the Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández; the orchestra is the Czech Philharmonic conducted by her friend Manfred Honeck. Nothing has been left to chance, yet Mutter is oddly absent from the proceedings. Never a shrinking violet, she has a slightly recessed sound and reticent expression, letting herself be overwhelmed by the cellist and the unconstrained Czechs. Did the record producer not raise an eyebrow, or was Sony just too daunted by its celebrity guest?…
More here.
And here.
En francais ici.
Er….That Clara Schumann trio is so “little known” that, well, the Beaux Arts Trio recorded it in 1971. If the new recording doesn’t do it justice, try the BAT’s. It’s a wonderful piece. https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7942610–beaux-arts-trio-philips-recordings-1967-1974
Well, the Brahms Double is a funny work, isn’t it? Doesn’t quite cohere the way the other concertos do: too many ideas, a bit too clever for itself, not enough resolution and fulfilment. I wouldn’t blame ASM.
Although the great Russian violinist Nathan Milstein recorded the Brahms Double Concerto with Gregor Piatigorsky, he didn’t much care for the piece. He told me that the violin basically just imitates the cello – typical Milstein 🙂
Made funnier by the fact that Milstein himself enjoyed playing the cello when he had the opportunity.
Of the seven (?) recordings of the Double Concerto I still have on vinyl LPs, that Milstein/Piatigorsky performance is my favorite.
Given the cover, and what actually happens backstage and elsewhere, one wonders if she was too exhausted. At her age, with a spanish stallion as (duo) partner…
Very interesting choice of protege. If a fat, ugly reincarnation of Rostropovich arose in the competition scene, would anyone be their “protege”? let alone ASM?
Ferrandes is very good, but theres 20-30 other cellists like him out there. Maybe its not the playing, at least not the Cello anyway.
And there was also a Trio. Oh boy…..
Mecky’s Messy mind…..
To judge by a few recent vocal recitals, Sony can no longer record anything properly. They just happen to own the catalogs of CBS, RCA, and a few others.