Alone

Album review

Taking its title from a Giovanni Sollima composition for the Stradivarius International Cello Composition, cellist Boris Andrianov's first solo album on the Quartz label is a triumph of technical bravura and musical sophistication. Andrianov opens with the Kodály Op. 8 Solo Sonata, a work few cellists since Janos Starker have recorded with such amazing prowess on the instrument, coupled with the true soul of Hungarian music that Kodály was trying to capture. After such a breathtaking performance, it's difficult to imagine anything following. But Andrianov forges ahead with Rodion Schtschedrin's Russian Fragments, which, like Kodály, focuses largely on folk idioms and cultural icons. Andrianov's playing here is every bit as precise and captivating. He uses a broad dynamic spectrum and color palate to draw in listeners and maintain their undivided focus. Andrianov takes the somewhat less-accessible Lame of Sollima and still manages to create a user-friendly performance, followed immediately by solemnity of Alone. He ends his program with Schnittke's Improvisation, written for Rostropovich, and Casals' fluttering Song of the birds. From start to finish, Andrianov's playing is nothing short of stunning, robust, commanding, and vibrant. Add to this his ability to speak directly to listeners and you have an artist of special standing. The only possible drawback to this otherwise exemplary album is the overabundance of reverb used in the Kodály, which dulls some of Andrianov's crisp attacks and articulation.
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