Word: cellos
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...quite surprising that Ax manages to dwarf Ma's usually colossal sound. One wouldn't expect such strange dynamics from a pair who have recorded all the major cello sonatas together over the last 15 years. For most of the Schumann, it seems that the strings are seated much further behind the microphone than the pianist; their resultingly tinny tones are swept away by Ax's nebulous waves of sound...
...uniformly kept up through the inner movements, although I appreciate the subtle interplay between the inner voices that abounds in the second and third movements (including a wayward timpani mallet about 18 seconds into the second movement). While Haitink receives my praise for sustaining the momentum in the sublime cello theme of the third movement, I still wish that he had felt just a little more free to lose himself in its glory. Typically, he avoids excessively punching the off-beat accents in the final movement, but compared to Neeme Jarvi's Chandos recording, it sounds a bit anemic...
Just when a well-crafted song concludes or a set technique impresses, jarring flaws, each insignificant in itself, detract from the many strengths of the show. Attempts at more elaborate illusions such as Henrik's cello synchronization with the orchestra are better scrapped simply to preserve more sustainable disbelief. The costumes are stunning and the sets all but professional. Great care is taken of affect educated English accents (by some) and to otherwise strut and behave like European aristocrats. But then the impact of successful flourishes like the impressively choreographed waltzes at the opening and closing curtains are diminished...
Boston Symphony Orchestra. Symphony Hall, 301 Mass Ave., Boston. 266-1200, Performs Gabrieli's "Canzona per sonare," Harbison's Cello Concerto and Brahms Double Concertto. With Josef Suk, violin and Yo-Yo Ma, cello. April 7 at 8 p.m. April 8 at 1:30 p.m.; April 9 at 8 p.m. and April...
...some works based on specific poems or material extraneous to the work rely on intellectual interest for their appeal, requiring that the listener decipher the thematic "content" of each phrase, "Surrendering to the Stream" depends for its success primarily on its purely aural beauty. Commencing with a lone low cello note, the piece progresses to reveal two different motifs, one embodied in the romantic solos played by each instrument, the other rousing and dramatic. Although the work seems slightly too long, its musical characterizations are quite memorable and the lyric sections are especially beautiful...