Music / kammermusik

Cello sonatas


Reviews (12)


classicalsource.com

2019 February

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Ateş Orga

2019 February

"This winning Russian programme, one of high twentieth-century narrative, has everything going for it. Two charismatic artists at the top of their game relishing playing with and off each other. Two powerful Cello Sonatas. A frankly magnificent Steinway D. Demonstration production standards ... The sort of release that grips one's imagination right from the first seconds ... Players oddly bypass Kabalevsky's pre-Cuba crisis Cello Sonata, premiered by Rostropovich in Moscow in February 1962. They shouldn't ... In brilliant, hungry form, Isserlis and Olli Mustonen do it glorious justice, taking the music and us by the throat ... A triumph of a release. With so much passion and adrenalin, you can only wonder how players and crew must have felt at the end of sessions".


AllMusic

2009

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Stephen Eddins

2009

"Andrianov's performance of the Rachmaninov, however, could best be described as impatient. While the Shostakovich thrives on his ability to keep the tempo pushing forward and his use of an intense, piercing sound, the Rachmaninov suffers from it ... Listeners in the market for superior recording of Shostakovich have found it, but should purchase a different album to supplement this Rachmaninov".


Presto classical

d. 1. Feb. 2019

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James Longstaffe

d. 1. Feb. 2019

"Recording of the week: With Isserlis's varying choices of tone, their performance [of the Shostakovich] takes on a rhapsodic, wistful mood that is captivating to listen to.Mustonen proves himself to be an ideal partner for these pieces, weighty and powerful when required, and yet also able to pull his sound right back to a barely-audible, percussive attack, particularly the coda of the first movement where he matches Isserlis's hushed tone every step of the way".


Fono Forum

2006 Oktober

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Giselher Schubert

2006 Oktober

"Grossartigen, unbedingt hörenswerten Cellosonaten ... Eine gelungener Interpretation aller drei Werke ... Blendend aufeinander eingestellt, spielen die fabelhaften Johannes Moser und Paul Rivinius ebenso kühl-beherrscht wie intensiv".


Diapason

2019 mai

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Patrick Szersnovicz

2019 mai


Klassisk

2019, nr. 53

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Esben Tange (f. 1962)

2019, nr. 53

"Selvom alle tre komponister levede i Sovjettiden, hvor kunst var underlagt rigide rammer, er dette album i særklasse et manifest for den frie tanke. Britiske Steven Isserlis og finske Olli Mustonen ... er begge romantikere i hjertet ... [De] benytter enhver lejlighed til at male dramaet op i musikken. Og det i en grad så det er oplagt at sende tanker til tidligere tiders cello og klaver-partnerskaber som Mstislav Rostropovitj og Sviatoslav Richter, samt Rostropovitj og Benjamin Britten, der også var i stand til at elektrificere et partitur".


BBC music magazine

2019 April

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Daniel Jaffé

2019 April

"Isserlis and his long-term colleague Olli Mustonen make a compelling case for Kabalevsky's Cello Sonata, finding such expressive drama that for once I was not distracted by the Sonata's obvious cribs from Shostakovich and Debussy ... Isserlis and Mustonen are themselves extraordinary musicians, and both clearly believe in the music they are performing ... Most extraordinary of all is Kabalevsky's Rondo in memory of Prokofiev ... A sincere and truly great work in an outstanding performance".


Fono Forum

2006 November

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Giselher Schubert

2006 November

"Alban Gerhardt und Steven Osborne sind ein blendend eingespieltes Duo, das allen technischen Problemen entwachsen ist ... Und doch fehlt etwas: der Mut und der unbedingte Wille, sich in und durch die Musik vorbehaltlos auszudrücken. Auf ihr makelloses Spiel fällt ein Schatten von Distanz".


Kristeligt dagblad

d. 30. Oct. 2000

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d. 30. Oct. 2000


Politiken

d. 9. July 2000

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d. 9. July 2000


The gramophone

2019 February

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Tim Ashley

2019 February

"Editor's choice: Isserlis and Mustonen make a strong case for [the Kabalevsky] in a performance of grand gestures that proves a real roller coaster ride. Isserlis's intensity and Mustonen's pianistic weight suit the piece wonderfully well ... The Shostakovich Sonata, in contrast, seems spacious and ruminative, particularly when placed beside Rostropovich's performances with Britten at Aldeburgh ... The shorter pieces are also superbly done ... Very fine".


The gramophone

2007 September

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John Warrack

2007 September

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "These are beautiful performances by two careful and thoughtful artists".