Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbeatable combination of beautifully played pieces, 13 Jun 2006
I can't think of another recording that packs this much outstanding music for viola and orchestra onto one CD. That is all wonderful English music from the golden era of Enlish music, the early 20th-century, with the likes of Vaughan Williams and Walton is excellent. Further, new discoveries, for me at least, of the Howells Elegy and Bowen Concerto is even better. And best of all is that violist Helen Callus is superb. She plays with such passion and drama, with a richness of sound that seems to have a thousand different possibilities, each one perfectly suited to every mood and nuance. Take the Vaughan Williams, for example which opens the CD. The Prelude is full and bold, the Carol is touching and intimate, the Christmas Dance is raucus and full of energy and wit.
Then we move to the Howells Elegy, which is the emotional heart of the CD and the standout among a recording filled with standouts. Though clearly modeled after Vaughan Williams Talis Fantasia, and certainly from that great English school of string writing, it is a unique work that breathes and aches in remembrence of Howells fallen schoolmate from WWI. I can see this recording setting a trend by which this work becomes a regular part of the concert repetoire. It is so wonderful to listen to and it highlights the tremendous string section of the New Zealand Symphony, led by Marc Taddei.
The Walton Concerto is certainly the most recorded work on the CD, and it holds its own against the likes of Bashmet, Kennedy, Vengerev, and even Primrose. Once again, what shines through with Callus is her passion, her beautifully engaging sound, and her glorius music making.
The final work on the CD, the Bowen Concerto, was new to me and it is a great addition. Though perhaps not as profound as the Howells or Walton, this music is more a showcase for the soloist. A concerto more in the style of a 19th-century violin concerto, Callus is more than up to the enormous demands of the required virtuosity. The cadenza in the final movement is by Callus herself, and also seems in the tradition of the great concertos of the 19th-century, full of flair, confidence and pyrotechnics.
The orchestra sounds wonderful throughout, the sound is always warm and rich, and the CD ends with big orchestral flourish surely designed to bring an audience to its feet. Highly Recommended.
|
|
|
|
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Make sure you always get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk 
Amazon Home