British cellist Steven Isserlis (b.1958) lovingly addresses the diversely elegant art of Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) whose chamber music and cello concertos reflect his long tenure in Spain. Boccherini, moreover, served from 1786 to 1797 as Chamber Composer to King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, nephew of Frederick the Great, himself a connoisseur of the cello. A lingering problem, however, has been the corrupted editions of Boccherini’s some 600 works, too often published in what Isserlis terms 'Victorian' versions that bear little resemblance to the original scores.
Isserlis opens with Boccherini’s 1770 Concerto in D, conceived while Boccherini himself actively toured as a virtuoso. Besides the sweetly rich melodic curves, the music offers sudden shifts in dynamics, heralding the burgeoning pre-Romantic ethos. Isserlis provides his own cadenzas in all movements for this ingratiating work. The plaintive, dark-toned Adagio, with its pregnant pauses and harmonized ornamentation, requires repeated hearing. The final Allegro seems a direct heir to the amiable music of Vivaldi, in its jovial, metric playfulness.
The Cello Concerto in A 'The Frog' (c.1761) may likely derive its first movement Allegro content from an earlier cello sonata; its nickname, a result of leaping intervals, belongs to Steven Isserlis. The texture remains decidedly light and transparent, and the Isserlis cadenzas aim for a pure parlando character with spare ornaments and limited tessitura. Typical of the Isserlis style, the expressive, cantabile character of the writing proves foremost, especially in the middle Adagio movement. The last movement, Rondo: Allegro, reveals an affinity with the music of Haydn, genial in its strutting confidence. The added horns fill out a resonant sonority.
Of the two cello sonatas proffered by Isserlis, that in C minor projects the darkness of a tragic opera aria from the outset. The harpsichord part by Ms Cole appears ad libitum, since a real bass line for a cello sonata had to wait for Beethoven to invent it. Isserlis invests the opening Allegro with fervent, dramatic power. The Largo, too, soars with a lyrical melancholy, often in double notes. The brief Allegretto that concludes the piece proceeds in semi-fiery, galant style, perhaps a French rather than Spanish influence.
The Cello Sonata in F has been adopted for two cellos by Isserlis—with Luise Buchberger—to create a sound idiomatic to Boccherini’s rich style. The lower cello provides a glamorous harmony to Isserlis’ top line, fluent and flexible as it proceeds in the opening Andantino. A meditative Adagio assai exploits the Isserlis singing tone. The last movement might well serve as a spirited, Spanish love song, Tempo di minuetto amoroso, its buoyant lyricism only a step away from the cantabile style in Paganini or Sarasate.
Serving as the fulcrum for this recording lies the large String Quintet in D Minor from the 1770s, one of some 100 such compositions from Boccherini. The expansive, first movement Allegro features an ardent song passed between the cellos, accompanied by bird trills in the fellow players: Jonian Ilias Kadesha, violin; Irène Duval, violin; Eivand Ringstad, viola; Tim Posner, cello. Much of the harmonized loveliness of the music anticipates Mozart and Schubert. The middle movement Andante sostenuto offers a cadenza for the second cello. The violin parts, intricately worked out, provide several moments of lyrical, intimate interweaving. The last movement proves unique: a Fuga: Allegro giusto, marks Boccherini as a fine contrapuntalist. Rife with Italianate brio, the music has intelligent verve and acoustical bite.
Last, the ubiquitous Minuetto & Trio from the E Major Quintet, played by everyone from Stokowski to Ernie Kovacs. Exquisitely delicate and charming, this music dances on the strings of both the heart and the imagination, the perfect encore.