Cello Abbey

Album review

After an acclaimed first album dedicated to rarer Lalo and Milhaud concert works, French-Swiss cellist Nadège Rochat decided to cross the Channel and focus on three insular works, two from English composers – Walton and the unmissable Elgar, for whom there is no lack of musical competition! – and another from an Irish composer, Ina Boyle (1889-1967) whose music is slowly gaining in popularity. After facing anti-feminine ostracism her whole life as a woman who dared writing music despite support from Vaughan Williams, she is now honoured by a – female – high calibre soloist who is able to give her 1913 Elegy all its flavours, both romantic and contemplating, arguably close to the work of Rachmaninoff. As for Walton’s 1956 Concerto – a work of maturity – it is, much like each of the composer’s rare works, a unique masterpiece: powerful, seductive, original, uncompromising with regards to surrounding modernism, and yet so modern. Finally Elgar’s 1919 Concerto, a hit in the British repertoire, was more or less his last masterpiece: from the moment his wife passed away in 1920 until his own death in 1934, he indeed spent most of his time riding his bike, being driven around in his car by his chauffeur,  and travelling the world. He also recorded his own works, developing more and more effective sound engineering techniques. Nadège Rochat dives in with passion into this repertoire, which she has mastered to perfection! © SM/Qobuz