Isserlis’ Debussy and Ravel!
This CD will be released 8/31/2010
This CD combines four works for cello and orchestra, and all of these were arranged at his personal request by an arranger of his choice. The quiet mood of Steven Isserlis’ latest disc may be partly explained by the dedication: “In loving and grateful memory” of his wife, Pauline, who died in June.
The opening piece is an arrangement of a suite that Debussy composed at the age of 19. Arranger Sally Beamish used this piece as the opening movement, and she went on to construct orchestral arrangements of four other Debussy works from the same period, including the piano pieces “Rêverie” and “Danse Bohémienne”.
The two Ravel compositions which follow were arranged by Steven Isserlis’ friend, the violinist Richard Tognetti, in order to supplement the concert program for a tour that the two were to make with Tognetti’s own Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Also on this CD is Vladimir Blok’s orchestration of Prokofiev’s Concertino which was left incomplete when the composer died. The disc closes with Christopher Palmer’s orchestration of Ernest Bloch’s “From Jewish Life”.
Throughout the program Isserlis receives the expert support of the Tapiola Sinfonietta led by conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy.
Here is Mr. Isserlis performing the “Song of the Birds”:
Tags: Isserlis, Debussy, Ravel, Revisions, Tognetti, Cello, Tapiola Sinfonietta