Steven’s new album ‘Music of the Angels’
On November 1st, Steven’s new album, ‘Music of the Angels’, featuring the music of a composer he treasures, Luigi Boccherini, is released on the Hyperion label. The repertoire consists of two lesser-known cello concertos, a rarely heard string quintet in D minor, cello sonatas in C minor and F major, and the famous Minuet from the quintet in E. His fellow performers include The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Maggie Cole, Jonian Ilias Kadesha, Irène Duval, Eivind Ringstad and Tim Posner. As Steven writes in his sleeve-notes: has there ever been a composer of more consistent elegance? No matter how impassioned the mood, how martial and dramatic, or how tender, Boccherini’s art is always attired in sumptuous clothing, radiating grace” Meanwhile, on October 25th, Sony released the physical CD of the recording Steven made with his friends and regular musical partners Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk of Mendelssohn’s piano trios – a recording that has already garnered considerable critical praise. Finally, for German speakers: on October 31st, Ullstein publishers in Germany release a book called ‘Meine Bessere Hälfte, in which well-known performers write about their relationships with their instruments. Steven wrote the chapter devoted to the cello (the violin and viola chapters were written by, respectively, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Tabea Zimmermann). Steven’s article has been translated into German; but it is hoped that at some point an English version will be printed.
