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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.9 out of 5 stars
9 reviews
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sublime performances of some too-oft overlooked chamber gems
6 Jan 2006
By Squire Jaco
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
When listening to any music, but classical music in particular, I live by the advice of some wise old public radio announcer (who I suspect also read Aaron Copland's bible on "What To Listen For In Music"): A great musical album is the combined product of 1.) well-written music, 2.) impeccably performed, and 3.) flawlessly recorded.
Well, here's Exhibit A.
This RCA recording of Steven Isserlis (mostly with pianist Pascal Devoyon) performing the cello works of Gabriel Faure is remarkable. It's truly unfortunate that most casual listeners of classical music are only familiar with Faure's "Dolly", "Requiem", or perhaps some of his fine piano compositions (of which there are many), because he has a fine catalog of other chamber works (violin sonatas, trios, quartets, quintets [stunning!] etc.), as well as some great orchestral works and songs.
His compositional style which combines typical French Impressionistic coloring with lush Romantic styling is clearly evident on these beautiful, playful, emotional cello works. Isserlis gives each piece his individual attention, and his phrasing seems effortless and spot on. The trademark tone of his cello is perfectly mic'd and reproduced here on this recording.
You'll love every minute of this brilliant album. It has that certain something that makes it stand out from the rest of your library as a special musical experience that you'll want to keep revisiting over and over (at the unfortunate expense of some worthy competitors in your collection!).
This is a "Top Ten" cd in my personal collection of over 800 classical cd's. You can't go wrong here, folks.
I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 9.6/10; Performance = 9.7/10; Production = 9.5/10; CD length = 10/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 9.6 ("5 stars")
Well, here's Exhibit A.
This RCA recording of Steven Isserlis (mostly with pianist Pascal Devoyon) performing the cello works of Gabriel Faure is remarkable. It's truly unfortunate that most casual listeners of classical music are only familiar with Faure's "Dolly", "Requiem", or perhaps some of his fine piano compositions (of which there are many), because he has a fine catalog of other chamber works (violin sonatas, trios, quartets, quintets [stunning!] etc.), as well as some great orchestral works and songs.
His compositional style which combines typical French Impressionistic coloring with lush Romantic styling is clearly evident on these beautiful, playful, emotional cello works. Isserlis gives each piece his individual attention, and his phrasing seems effortless and spot on. The trademark tone of his cello is perfectly mic'd and reproduced here on this recording.
You'll love every minute of this brilliant album. It has that certain something that makes it stand out from the rest of your library as a special musical experience that you'll want to keep revisiting over and over (at the unfortunate expense of some worthy competitors in your collection!).
This is a "Top Ten" cd in my personal collection of over 800 classical cd's. You can't go wrong here, folks.
I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 9.6/10; Performance = 9.7/10; Production = 9.5/10; CD length = 10/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 9.6 ("5 stars")
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
this CD is a real pleasure
7 Oct 2005
By G. Metcalf
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Faure's compositions on this disc are consistently great works in his usual vein of subtle beauty. Isserlis has big, rich tone and the piano accompianist does a nice job. The sound is top notch. This is well worth your money and if you are not familiar with Faure it would be a great place to start. Any comment that these pieces sound alike is true only in that a cello and piano are involved. The pieces themselves have obviously varied musical content.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly excellent Isserlis recording of difficult Faure
25 July 2011
By jt52
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
I join the other reviewers in urging you to listen to this recording if you are interested in French classical. The performers, English cellist Steven Isserlis and French pianist Pascal Devoyon, are well-known to me from other very fine releases, and this is one of their best efforts. Isserlis is as always very musical and the recording here also brings out the sheer beauty of his tone. Devoyon is an accomplished chamber-music pianist and he delivers in what is an extremely challenging accompaniment role. (Faure was a pianist and his writing for the instrument is always complex.) The recorded sound is absolutely excellent, a little echoy but the tonality of the instruments is reproduced very well and with great richness.
Now let's talk about the music a little bit. The centerpiece of the CD are the two Faure cello sonatas, written very late in life, 1918 and 1924, when the composer was old and largely deaf. They are typical of his late period - his characteristic subtlety and understated manner are taken to a new extreme, the themes are worked over extensively and in complex fashion, and almost all outspoken effects are eschewed. This makes the music cryptic and reserved and (I find) difficult to understand. I am on something like my eighth or ninth listen of the 1st sonata - a piece that Isserlis, in a set of very informative liner notes, states was inspired by the savage experience of WWI - and it is just starting to make sense to me. Let's turn that around: the music is interesting enough for me to have kept on listening to it over and over again. So it's rich music, but hard music to understand. The CD also contains shorter pieces from earlier in Faure's life, including the famous Sicilienne, and also a cello duet that was written for conservatory purposes that I like a lot.
A very good CD, but recommended for sophisticated listeners only.
Now let's talk about the music a little bit. The centerpiece of the CD are the two Faure cello sonatas, written very late in life, 1918 and 1924, when the composer was old and largely deaf. They are typical of his late period - his characteristic subtlety and understated manner are taken to a new extreme, the themes are worked over extensively and in complex fashion, and almost all outspoken effects are eschewed. This makes the music cryptic and reserved and (I find) difficult to understand. I am on something like my eighth or ninth listen of the 1st sonata - a piece that Isserlis, in a set of very informative liner notes, states was inspired by the savage experience of WWI - and it is just starting to make sense to me. Let's turn that around: the music is interesting enough for me to have kept on listening to it over and over again. So it's rich music, but hard music to understand. The CD also contains shorter pieces from earlier in Faure's life, including the famous Sicilienne, and also a cello duet that was written for conservatory purposes that I like a lot.
A very good CD, but recommended for sophisticated listeners only.
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4.9 out of 5 stars
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