Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major
Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major
Symphony No. 13 in D major Adagio
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Trauermusik (1936)
Christian Poltéra (cello)
Münchener Kammerorchester
rec. 2021, Himmelsfahrtkirche, München-Sendling, Germany
BIS BIS2507 SACD [61]
These two Haydn concertos are my favourites in the genre, and I have reviewed quite a few recordings of them for this site over the years. When a new recording appeared featuring a well-known soloist on a quality label, it was an obvious choice to request for review. Having said that Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra is well-known, I then have to admit that this is my first encounter with him playing concertos; my two recordings of him are sonatas by Saint-Saëns and Fauré (on Chandos).
The concertos are performed on modern instruments, but with historical performance sensibilities. The tempos are uniformly swift: the C major, at 22:48, is more or less the same as a full-on HIP version by Asier Polo (review) while the D major, at 23:28, is more than a minute faster than any other version I know of. This is both a virtue and a failing. The Finales are quite thrilling, as good as I have heard, but the first and second movements seem to skate over the surface at times. Yes, this is not Romantic music, but nor is it superficial either. The Adagio in the C major is taken even faster than that by Polo, whose rapid tempo was ameliorated by beautifully tender and emotional playing. This is not so with Poltéra, and I found myself wanting more poetry in the first two movements of each concerto to balance the dazzling finales. My reference recording for the two concertos is by Daniel Müller-Scott on Orfeo (review), who probes the depth of the music more thoroughly, though his finales are nowhere near as thrilling as Poltéra’s. One noteworthy, tempo-unrelated, aspect is the prominence given to the horns, far more so than in any other recording I know. I haven’t formed an opinion as to whether it is good or bad, but it is certainly noticeable. The Adagio from Symphony 13 has a substantial part for solo cello, and is an appropriate choice to partner the two concertos.
It is one of those odd coincidences to find myself writing about Hindemith’s Trauermusik two days before the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The work was written by Hindemith on a visit to London, during which the King, George V, died. There is an interesting contrast in the approach taken by the musical authorities then and now. In 1936, a memorial concert was rapidly scheduled two days after the King’s death at which Hindemith played the solo part in Trauermusik. In 2022, the last two Proms were simply cancelled.
This leads me on to the other problem with this disc. I was unaware that Trauermusik existed in a version for cello and strings, having only known the original (apparently a version for violin also exists). While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this version of Trauermusik or its performance, which is splendid, it simply doesn’t work as a discmate for the concertos, both in its style and also where it is placed. After the excitement engendered by the dazzling finale of the D major concerto, the disc rather fizzles out with fourteen minutes of slow music. Perhaps it might have worked better to have moved the D major concerto to the end, and found another small-scale concerto (the “other” D major concerto perhaps - the one Haydn may or may not have written), to follow the Hindemith. Certainly there is plenty of space left on the disc – more than twenty minutes – so I see this as rather a missed opportunity. Perhaps something else was planned but Covid got in the road; I am aware of that happening with another recording of recent times.
The production values are of the usual high standard for BIS. I listened to the disc as a standard CD, and the sound quality was excellent. Poltéra plays a Stradivarius cello – the “Mara” – and not surprisingly, it produces a quite glorious sound. The Munich orchestra is very crisp and clean.
Overall, the recording has some very good points, but also some less than ideal. I am not going to say I was disappointed, but I was hoping for better.
David Barker
