Prokofiev: Cello Concertino in G minor, Op. 132

Steven Isserlis has earned a reputation as one of the foremost cellists of our day. At the same time he has become known for his ingenuity and innovation in programming, something which this disc is the perfect example of. It combines four works for cello and orchestra all arranged at his personal request, and each of them by the arranger of his choice.

The most radical reworking is the opening piece, an arrangement based on the fact that Debussy at the age of 19 composed a Suite for cello and orchestra. All that is known for certain about this suite is that its fourth movement was called Intermezzo, and that this piece has survived in a version for cello and piano. In her imaginative reconstruction of – or rather replacement for – Debussy’s original composition, Sally Beamish has used this piece as the opening movement, going on to construct orchestral arrangements of four other Debussy works from the same period, including the piano pieces Rêverie and Danse bohémienne. The two Ravel songs which follow were arranged by Isserlis’ friend, the violinist Richard Tognetti, in order to supplement the concert programme for a tour that the two were to make with Tognetti’s own Australian Chamber Orchestra. Vladimir Blok’s orchestration of Prokofiev’s Concertino, which had been left incomplete at the death of the composer, was made as Isserlis was unhappy with the existing arrangement of the work, made by Kabalevsky. The disc closes with the earliest of these four re-visions, film composer Christopher Palmer’s orchestration of Ernest Bloch’s From Jewish Life. Throughout the programme Isserlis receives the expert support of Tapiola Sinfonietta and Gábor Takács-Nagy.

Having received glowing comments from the critical establishment on original release, Chandos brings together Alexander Ivashkin’s performances of Prokofiev’s Cello Concertos and Sonatas for the first time as a 2-CD set. Prokofiev’s love of the cello began early – he composed his Ballade aged scarcely 20 – and lasted throughout his life, fired by his friendship with Rostropovich. His very last composition was the Sonata, Op. 133 for solo cello, which he began on the latter half of 1952 but left unfinished at his death in March 1953. Towards the end of his life Prokofiev also engaged in the composition of three major works featuring the cellos as solo instrument. All three were inspired by Rostropovich. The Sonata, Op. 119 for cello and piano (1949) was followed by the Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125 for cello and orchestra (1950-51, revised 1952) and the Concertino in G minor, Op. 132, also for cello and orchestra. Ivashkin gave the premiere recording of the Concertino. The Strad wrote, “This is wonderful playing, best of all is Ivashkin’s understatement whose artistry reveals many fascinating layerings. Alexander Ivashkin is recognised internationally for his interpretations of Russian music, especially the music of Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Schnittke, Gubaidulina and Kancheli. The Telegraph on his Prokofiev performances, “It would be hard to imagine a better advocate for these works than Ivashkin… His rich tone could have been made for Prokofiev’s lush melodic writing…” Ivashkin is joined here by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra under Valeri Polyansky.