Isserlis is drawn to what he describes as the 'irresistible mix of the epic and the touchingly confessional' in the B minor Concerto. Those are precisely the qualities he brings out in this new recording. Valiant when required, he also shows the work's more retiring side, creating whispered dialogues with the woodwind in the second movement cadenza and great rocking camaraderie with the heaven-bound violin solo in the Finale.
Having zoomed in and out of these intimate scenes, Isserlis promptly commands the listener's attention with a truly lustrous forte. Occasionally you feel the cello might be too prominent in the mix, placed not within but in front of the orchestra and thereby forcing them to take a back seat. We lose a little clarity too, but these are minor quibbles, easily overlooked when the playing, both from Isserlis and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is so superb.
Harding takes a slightly more direct approach with the piece than Isserlis, as if the former were the level-headed brother of the latter, yet there is much to enjoy within the collaboration. The peaceful passivity of the chorale textures Harding elicits in the slow movement are particularly ravishing. Other performances of this work – and there are many fine examples – bring more bite to the faster passage, though that would sit at odds with Isserlis's finely honeyed tone.
Placing the Concerto in context, Hyperion has also recorded the song 'Lasst mich allein', which Dvořák quotes in the slow movement, and the earlier Cello Concerto in A major. Never orchestrated by Dvořák, it is presented here in a freely revised version by Günter Raphael. The work is no masterpiece – Isserlis himself makes few special claims – but it is a delightful, richly voiced insight into the Dvořák's younger mind and it provides another opportunity for Isserlis's golden and humane tone to shine through. Click here to order a copy.
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