Camille Saint-Saëns
Complete Works for Cello and Orchestra
Johannes Moser, cello
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Fabrice Bollon, conductor
Hänssler Classics
This delightful release easily takes its place as the reference edition for these works, not that we’re spoiled for choice in anything but the First Cello Concerto. Moser plays with consummate technique, gorgeous tone and a rhythmic kick that seem tailor-made for these elegantly crafted pieces. He and his admirable colleague, conductor Fabrice Bollon, launch the First Concerto with irresistible verve, and their winsome handling of the slower central episode practically defines the word “charming.” They are just as successful in the hardly-less-appealing Second; Moser’s double-stopping at the start is immaculately in tune, his articulation in the dashing finale neat as a pin.
The Suite for Cello and Orchestra, in five brief but hugely likable movements, lasts as long as either of the concertos and ought to be trotted out now and then in concert. Where has this music been? Try the lovely second-movement Serenade, or the delicious Romance; it’s not as if there are many such works in the repertoire. The three shorter pieces make perfect encores. Moser closes the disc with an orchestral arrangement of The Swan, the icing on this positively scrumptious musical cake. Moser is without question an artist worth watching.
- David Hurwitz
