Previously published on May 26
Blue is the colour for this cello, saxophone quartet (SATBaritone) and piano collection of arrangements, opening with Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, a cello original of course, heard here in Fitzenhagen’s ordering rather than the composer’s, which – one stylistic departure aside (to a nightclub), and reaction to that will depend on individual sensibilities – is very likeable, so too a Vivaldi Concerto and some Popular Songs by Manuel de Falla. A trio of short pieces by Shostakovich are ideal for this ensemble of equals, Alban Gerhardt ‘first’ among them – the sax-players are terrific – with the ‘Elegy’ rather haunting, and Phantasy in Blue (owing to George Gershwin’s Rhapsody) is perhaps less of a gift, cello as piano with a piano in the mix, but you can always sample it, and indeed the other tracks, on the link below. Superb sound. Hyperion CDA68419 is released on June 2.
Best cd I’ve heard in a long time – the arrangements are amazing, never want to hear the originals again, and the way the cello joints the saxophone sound and vice versa is something I haven’t experienced before and was blown away from the start. Absolutely love the way Gerhardt makes his cello sound like a clarinet at the beginning of the Rhapsody in Blue (Fantasy in Blue, really???)!!