CD REVIEW
– sensations
Gautier Capuçon
Erato 9029615713
[83:46]
High in the list
of the world's top cellists,
Gautier Capuçon's album 'Emotions'
– reviewed here as one of my
CDs of the year for 2021 –
reached gold status in France,
remaining at No.1 in the charts
for over 30 weeks. Evidently the
Frenchman is a household name in
his native country. (Somehow, I
can’t imagine that happening
to Steven Isserlis in the UK).
He is the founder
and leader of the "Classe
d'Excellence de Violoncelle"
together with the Louis Vuitton
Foundation in Paris, where every
year the most talented young
cellists work intensively
together for one week.
In addition, he is
the ambassador of the Orchestre
à l'École Association, which
brings classical music closer to
more than 40,000 children in
France.
A fine follow-up
to the earlier disc, this latest
release is an enticing mix of
popular classical and lighter
pieces. On 14 of the 20 tracks,
he is accompanied by the
Orchestre National de Bretagne,
with the award-winning German
conductor Johanna Melangré. Also
present on 11 tracks is his
friend and long-time pianist
Jérôme Duclos, who was also
responsible for most of the
arrangements/transcriptions.
The opening Over
the Rainbow is followed by
BBC One 'The Apprentice'
signature tune: Dance of the
Knights from Prokofiev's 'Romeo
and Juliet', Amazing
Grace, Singin' in the
Rain, the great John
Williams' Shindler’s
List, Main Theme, Bert
Kaempfert's L-O-V-E,
featuring the marvellous
trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary,
and La vie en rose,
stirring up memories of Édith
Piaf.
Further examples
of the wide-ranging appeal of
this album are: Barber's moving Adagio
for Strings, Morricone's The
Mission: Gabriel's Oboe,
Puccini's Nessun dorma
from his opera 'Turandot',
Legrand's I Will Wait for You
from the film 'Les Parapluies
de Cherbourg' and The
Windmills of Your Mind from
the film 'The Thomas Crown
Affair', and well-known
extracts from works by Dvorak and
Smetana. Another standout track
is Comme d'habitude,
that turns out to be My Way.
Capuçon, soloist
extraordinaire, is joined by
Capucelli – half-a-dozen
young former student cellists
from his masterclass in Paris
– on three tracks:
Villa-Lobos's Bachianas
brasileiras No.5, Aria:
(Catalina), which also
features another award winner,
Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, In
the Hall of the Mountain King
from Grieg's 'Peer Gynt'
and the final lively Mambo
from 'West Side Story'.
Whatever the
oncoming winter has in store for
us, this is a superbly performed
and great value for money length
album to cheer listeners now and
into the New Year.
© Peter
Burt 2022
|
