Steven Isserlis

 

Steven’s new CD, Lieux retrouvés, is now out!

Thomas Adès is a phenomenon: unbelievably gifted composer, wonderful conductor, and amazing pianist. It’s really not fair AT ALL. But still, I was delighted to make this disc with him, of his own irresistible (and hideously difficult!) new piece for cello and piano, Lieux retrouvés, and works by composers who have influenced him: Liszt, Janáček, Fauré and Kurtág. I have been lucky enough to work extensively with the great Hungarian composer  Gyorgy Kurtág over many years, and have learnt so much from him (as has Thomas). I am happy to have recorded here four of his miniature masterpieces for solo cello.

 

reVisions

Steven Isserlis with the Tapiola Sinfonietta and Gabor Takacs-Nagy

This was a very personal project for me in many ways, partly because all of these transcriptions
were made at my request. They range from Sally Beamish’s witty and charming reconstruction of a
lost Debussy suite for cello, to a set of pieces I find as touching as anything written for the cello,
Bloch’s suite ‘From Jewish Life’.

 

Schumann: Music for cello and piano

‘For all that Isserlis has made many wonderful recordings, not least his seminal Bach suites, I think this might just be his finest yet’

(Gramophone)

Even I don’t quite understand why I’m SO obsessed with Schumann – but I am! I love everything about him, and virtually every note he composed. He is Denes’s most beloved composer too, so it seemed natural for us to do a new disc of all his works for cello and piano, and some arrangements – including my labour-of-love transcription of his rarely-heard third violin sonata, a work which remained unpublished until 100 years after Schumann’s death. An added bonus (for me) for this recording was that I was lucky enough to have two Strad cellos available for it, the ‘De Munck’ and the ‘Marquis de Coberon’. I divided the pieces pretty evenly between them; it would take a VERY sharp pair of ears to differentiate between them, though.

 

Bach: Suites for Solo Cello

“I finally dared do it…”

 

 

 

 

Brahms: Cello Sonatas with Stephen Hough

“Having not recorded for 2 years or so, it felt very good to go back into the studio with Stephen and to revisit repertoire that I first recorded 21 years ago – groan. It’s always so wonderful to play with Stephen, on a personal as well as a musical level. Good also to record the Dvorak pieces (we actually recorded his Polonaise as well, but unfortunately discovered subsequently that it couldn’t fit onto the disc) and the little gems by Suk.”

 

Saint-Saens: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 and 2

With the London Symphony Orchestra and Michael Tilson Thomas

La Muse et el Poete – with Joshua Bell, violin
Suite for Cello and Orchestra Op. 16 with NDR Sinfonieorchester and Christoph Eschenbach.

“This is mostly reissues; but I was glad, several years after it was recorded and edited, BMG managed to locate and then issue the Saint-Saens Suite, Op. 16. At one stage, they seemed to have lost the tapes! It’s a lovely piece.”

 

Rachmaninov/Franck Sonatas:

 

“I first started playing the Rachmaninov Sonata when I was about 11 and used to play it with my Russian Grandmother. She remembered perfectly the performances gave with Brandukov, the work’s dedicatee, so perhaps it’s not surprising that I feel a close affinity to this work.”

Cello World

A selection of short pieces for cello and arrangements, with Thomas Ades, Dame Felicity Lott, Maggie Cole, Michael Tilson Thomas, Dudley Moore

“Well, I did enjoy making this disc, with so many friends; this is the one I usually give to people I like! And it’s full of my son’s favourite cello pieces, which for me is quite an added attraction.”

 

Schumann

Cello Concerto, works for cello and piano, ‘Offertorium’ from Mass in C minor; Bargiel: Adagio, with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Christoph Eschenbach, Dame Felicity Lott, David King

‘Being a Schumann nut, I thought long and hard about recording the cello concerto – and I’m glad to say that I found the perfect partners in the DK and Christoph Eschenbach. Also, it was very nice to be able to include a piece by Schumann’s brother-in-law, Bargiel – good to keep it in the family.’

 

Brahms/Frühling/Schumann

Trios for clarinet, cello and piano, with Michael Collins and Stephen Hough

‘See my “enthusiasms” for my feelings about Mr. Frühling – it was a real thrill to be making the first-ever commercial recording of his music; and Messrs. Collins and Hough are among my most frequent partners in musical crime – so I’m happy that this recording exists.’

 

Elgar / Bloch / Kabalevsky / Tchaikovsky / R. Strauss

Works with orchestra, with various orchestras and conductors

‘A slightly mixed bag – but it’s cheap, and the pieces are great! The Kabalevsky is a

thrilling concerto, I think – I don’t understand why it’s so rarely played.’

Faure: Complete Works for Cello, with Pascal Devoyon

‘I love Faure so much! Pascal and I recorded a lot of this repertoire for Hyperion, but I was very disappointed with the result, partly because of poor sound; this BMG recording is a huge improvement, I think. For me, the sonatas are among the greatest works for the cello.’

 

Haydn

Cello Concertos, Sinfonia Concertante, Adagio cantabile, with soloists, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Sir Roger Norrington

‘This one actually sold some copies!  Wonders never cease. I love Haydn’s freshness and humour – what a marvellous man he must have been.’

Janácek / Prokofiev / Shostakovich

Works for cello and piano, with Olli Mustonen

‘It’s always exciting to play with my friend Olli Mustonen – and doubly so in this case, because we were making the first recording of the first version of Janacek’s “Fairy-Tale” ‘

Saint-Saëns

Concerto for Cello No. 2 / La Muse et le Poete / Romance / Cello Sonata No. 2, with ‘Joshua Bell, NDR Orchstra, Christoph Eschenbach

‘Little-known music by Saint-Saëns -  all of it is beautiful, but the real gem is the piece for violin, cello and orchestra, “La Muse et le Poete”. It was great that Joshua Bell was transferred from Sony for that one piece!’

Strauss

Don Quixote, Romance, Cello Sonata, with Stephen Hough, Symphonieorchester des BR, Maazel

‘I had never met Maazel before these sessions took place, so I was nervous – but he couldn’t have been more charming! It was a really enjoyable experience. And an added luxury, of course, to record the sonata with the wonderful Stephen Hough -  even though he mis-spells his own first name.’

Tavener

The Protecting Veil, Thrinos, Britten: Suite no.3, with LSO, Rozhdestvensky

‘This was called a ‘cult’ recording – hmmm… not by me. For me, “the Protecting Veil”, even without the religious programme, is a gorgeous, romantic piece of music; the first performance was one of the highlights of my concert life – so exciting to realise that the work had captured people’s imaginations.’