Ligeti: Sonata for Cello solo

We are delighted to announce the signing of one of the world’s greatest cellists, Pieter Wispelwey, who after many years on the Channel Classics label has decided to move to ONYX. In this outstanding recording of mid- 20th century cello music, Pieter makes his first recording of the great Walton Cello Concerto.

Pieter recorded the Walton in Australia in 2007 in several live concerts with the excellent Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the experienced baton of the British conductor Jeffrey Tate. This recording has been expertly edited from the live concerts (applause omitted). The rest of the recording was made in studio conditions in Holland.

The works for solo cello are cleverly interrelated and brings discoveries such as the Bloch Suite (written at exactly the same time as the Walton Concerto in 1957), the early Ligeti Sonata (1948-53) and two works written for Rostropovich: Britten’s Ciaconna from the 2nd suite and one of Walton’s own contributions to the ground bass form, the Passacaglia.

For the concerto Wispelwey plays his normal Guadagnini cello but for the solo cello works he was thrilled to be able to record on the great Magg Stradivarius from 1698.

Having been hailed by critics as “a phenomenon who is without doubt already one of the finest cellists on the world stage today”, the young virtuoso cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia has established himself as one of the most exciting new musical talents. Born in 1995 in Bogotá, Columbia, he commenced studies at 4 with Polish cellist Henryk Zarzyycki, and gave his first concerto performance at the age of 6. With numerous awards and prizes under his belt, his debut CD for Atoll will undoubtedly be the showcase for his many talents.

Swiss ‘cellist Frédéric Rosselet plays subtly and athletically. He is not a performer who shows off at every opportunity; his is a higher aesthetic. The technical prowess you will hear on this recording rivals the great virtuosi and his recording is on a grand scale. He uses this skill tastefully and reservedly. Frédéric plays two different 'cellos in this recording. A modern ‘cello, which he plays in the pieces by Berio, Ligeti and Dutilleux, made about 130 years ago by a student of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. For the two Bach suites, Frédéric chose a glorious instrument configured as they would have been played in the Baroque era, without a peg, a lighter sound post on the interior of the instrument, gut strings and a Baroque bow.

Frédéric took First Place in Bach Solo Strings Competition & Thornton Concerto Competition with the Lutoslawski ‘cello concerto.

The Hungarian Miklós Perényi is recognised as one of the great cellists of his generation, with a distinctive, subtly nuanced sound matched by extraordinary musicality. Here he gives his first solo recital for ECM, performing notable works by Bach, Britten and Ligeti. It follows his brilliant performance, alongside András Schiff, in the award-winning recordings for the label of the Complete Music for Piano and Violoncello by Beethoven.

Perényi plays Benjamin Britten’s Third Suite for solo cello, op. 97 and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suite No 6 in D major, BWV 1012, making plain their historical interconnection.

Britten wrote his cello suites for Mstislav Rostropovich, inspired by hearing him playing the Bach suites. Rostropovich hailed all of Britten’s cello suites as masterpieces but singled out the Third (written in 1971) for special praise: “sheer genius”, in his words. Into the fabric of the thematic material Britten wove fragments of melodies from Russian folk songs, only allowing them to emerge fully in the final movement. On this disc, Bach’s last cello suite follows Britten’s, and Perényi’s Bach dances with elegance and energy.

The album concludes with a return to Hungary, and György Ligeti’s Sonata for solo cello of 1948-1953. Ligeti released the piece for publication only in 1979, so it figures in the chronology (as Paul Griffiths point out in the notes) both before and after the Britten.

Meanwhile a significant piece in the contemporary repertoire, it’s a powerful, heartfelt work from a composer who had himself studied the cello.

Award-winning Chinese/Australian cellist Li-Wei makes his first CD for Cello Classics with a programme that draws on his formidable talents, including a specially commissioned work by Ho Chee Kong.