J. Brahms : Cello Sonatas, A. Dvorak, J. Suk : Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough - 2006.

J. Brahms : Cello Sonatas, A. Dvorak, J. Suk : Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough - 2006
Johannes Brahms : Cello sonata No.1 in E Minor Op.38
Antonin Dvorak : Waldesruhe Op.68 No.5
Rondo in G minor Op.94
Josef Suk : Ballade in D minor Op. 3 No.1
Serenade in A minor Op.3 No 2
Johannes Brahms : Cello Sonata No.2 in F Major Op.99
Steven Isserlis : Cello
Stephen Hough : Piano
Recorded in St. George's, Brandon Hill, Bristol, 2-4 May 2005


TOP TEN RECORDS OF THE YEAR - The Sunday Times
DISC OF THE MONTH - BBC Music Magazine
DISC OF THE WEEK - BBC Radio 3 CD Review
LISTENERS' DISC OF THE YEAR - BBC Radio 3 CD Review
EDITOR'S CHOICE - Gramophone Magazine
Recital Selection of the Month - The Strad
EXCELLENTIA AWARD - Pizzicato Magazine

Eac / ape (img + cue).
Recovery : 3%.
Total rar size : CD / Covers / Full Booklet : 275 MB / 3 parts.
Total playing-time : 73',49" .
Included : Full Covers, Full Booklet, CD in 300 dpi.


Reviews :
BBC Music Magazine (Click on image to enlarge)

Gramophone Music Magazine : Duncan Druce - 1/2006,
Back to Brahms, and this formidable duo offer deeply satisfying readings
In 1984 Steven Isserlis made excellent recordings for Hyperion of the Brahms sonatas with Peter Evans (4/86 - nla); this time he's added some substantial extra items - the two Suk pieces, wonderfully played, are particularly welcome. The new recording is fuller in sound and more realistic; Stephen Hough's commanding playing of Brahms's "big" piano parts could, one feels, overpower the cello but, thanks to his sensitivity, this never happens.
In the sonatas, the timings are in nearly every case slightly shorter, due not to any very different tempi but because the music now flows more easily, with less sense of effort. Some listeners may miss the intensity of Evans's involvement with the music but the new versions have a wonderful sense of line, and Hough's more detached approach comes with vivid characterisation, seen in the sinister colours of No 2's Allegro passionato, for example, or the limpid, elegant playing of No 1's Allegretto quasi menuetto.
Only in one place, the finale of No 2, did I feel that Hough's fluency creates a problem: repeating the opening theme, he pushes on in a way that detracts from the sunny, contented atmosphere at the start. There are a few places, too, where Isserlis misses the sense of grandeur that Anne Gastinel, for example, can bring to Brahms"s cello writing No 2's Adagio provides an instance, where Isserlis opts instead for a warm, intimate tone. Overall, these are deeply considered, immensely satisfying accounts. Isserlis and Hough make a formidable team and I look forward to more duo


Classics Today : Jed Distler - 2/22/2006

Classics Today
Steven Isserlis first recorded Brahms' cello sonatas for Hyperion in the mid-1980s with Peter Evans at the piano, in sensitive, forthright, and excellently engineered interpretations. His remakes nearly 20 years later generally reveal a more flexible, longer-lined approach, helped by an even more pliable bow arm and wider range of tone color. The earlier recording may be hard to find, but if you happen to have a copy, do an A/B comparison with the F major sonata's second movement and you'll immediately understand what I mean. With Stephen Hough's world-class keyboard mastery, the piano part's thick chords and frequent three-against-two rhythmic patterns rarely have sounded so transparent and lithe. Notice also the unusually lucid delineation of the busy canonic intersections in the E minor sonata's first movement, the wry lilt in the central movement's outer sections, and the F major finale's refreshing lightness and playful demeanor, making Brahms' frequent displacements of phrases against the meter seem utterly uncontrived.
Naturally there are other valid ways to play these works, and I don't expect to trade in Rostropovich's imposing, large-scaled vantage point, nor the matchless third-movement fugal interplay Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax achieve in their Sony remake of the E minor sonata. However, the affectionate and characterful Suk and Dvorák performances that fill out this disc may well give Isserlis and Hough the edge among reference editions. And let's not forget to mention Hyperion's atmospheric, beautifully balanced engineering. Highly recommended.


More infos about Steven Isserlis : Here
More infos about Stephen Hough : Here
More infos about this album : Here


Tracklist :
J. Brahms : Cello Sonatas, A. Dvorak, J. Suk : Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough - 2006.
01. J. Brahms : Cello Sonata No.1 In E Minor, Op. 38 : I. Allegro Non Troppo [0:13:50.34]
02. II. Allegretto Quasi Menuetto [0:05:36.94]
03. III. Allegro [0:06:10.69]
04. A. Dvorαk : Waldesruhe, Op. 68 No.5 [0:05:25.97]
05. A. Dvorαk : Rondo In G Minor, Op. 94 [0:07:08.01]
06. J. Suk : Ballade In D Minor, Op. 3 No.1 [0:05:03.80]
07. J. Suk : Serenade In A, Op. 3 No.2 [0:04:57.16]
08. J. Brahms : Cello Sonata No.2 In F, Op. 99 : I. Allegro Vivace [0:08:03.06]
09. II. Adagio Affettuoso [0:06:33.34]
10. III. Allegro Passionato [0:06:46.48]
11. IV. Allegro Molto [0:04:10.17]


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