Audite

Any number of recordings on the market of Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, make good choices: it's a beloved repertory work, and it is the lifetime chance for any cellist to shine. Nevertheless, there's a strong case for choosing this one by the respectably well-known, but not a household-name, French cellist Marc Coppey and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Kirill Karabits. First is the unusual pairing with Ernest Bloch's Schelomo, another prominent repertory work for the cello. As Coppey points out in his notes, both works were connected with the U.S.; Bloch's work was written before he moved to the country permanently, while Dvorak's concerto was written in the U.S. as the composer prepared to return home. Both are reflections on ethnicity, and they fit well together in unexpected ways. Dvorak's short tone poem Klid (Silent Woods) is a pleasant entr'acte. But the prime attraction is the Dvorak concerto itself: Coppey offers a full-blooded, passionate reading that may put the listener in mind of classic Czech performances by Janos Starker, for example. Sample the finale, where the maximum intensity is squeezed out of the rhapsodic ending. It's a virtuoso performance with fine coordination between orchestra and soloist. Highly recommended. © TiVo

Between 1950 and 1967, the Amadeus Quartet recorded almost all of the string quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven at the Berlin RIAS studios, and Audite's first volume in a series of the group's recordings documents its intensive approach to this core repertoire. (No recording from the period exists of the String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, "Harp," but the String Quintet in C major, "Storm," is provided here as a bonus.) This seven-CD trimline box set reveals not only the Amadeus Quartet's maturation as an ensemble and its deepening commitment to Beethoven's music, but also the ongoing development of recording technology, noticeable in the improvements of the analog sound of the original masters. Even though Audite's remastering produces clean and nuanced audio, these are still historic recordings that have a rather small, closed-in sound, so this set is mostly recommended for fans of the Amadeus Quartet and specialists in important chamber music recordings. © TiVo