Search - John York :: English Cello Sonatas

Marvellous music, excellent playing

P. SIMPSON | North Yorkshire, United Kingdom | 06/07/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you love this repertoire (early C20 english music/cello) you can't go too far wrong with this lovely disc. The Ireland is quite well known, and deservedly, but the Moeran and Rubbra less well known. The neglect is undeserved, - the Rubbra is taut and cogent (as you'd expect) and the Moeran is intimate and rhapsodic (as you'd expect). It (the Moeran) was written for Peers Coetmore, then the composer's fiance, later his wife and dedicatee of Moeran's absolutely superb cello concerto (her performance on an old Lyrita LP was one othe treasures of my vinyl collection). Wallfisch is a champion of english cello music, usually on Chandos and sometimes on Naxos, and can be relied upon for at least fine playing, sometimes inspired (as on his Finzi recording for Chandos). This isn't quite at the Finzi concerto level, and possibly reflects a little less familiarity with the pieces(??) but is certainly good, as is the sympathetic playing of john York. Nor is the recording quite at the level of some of Chandos' cello recordings, although its certainly good.For those reasons and because the sonatas, whilst lovely, are slightly-less-than-top drawer compared to the very best works of all three composers, I've gone for a curmudgeonly (and possibly mean) four stars rather than five for a disc of interest, distinction and reward. Recommended."