Alexander Baillie - Cello Concerto - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Alexander Baillie - Cello Sonatas [COMPACT DISCS] date 07/22/2009

Spring Fire, the newest from SOMM Recordings, highlights the complete music for cello and piano by Arnold Bax (1883-1953), with Alexander Baillie, recognized as one of the finest cellists of his generation, and pianist John Thwaites, his long-time musical partner. The Baillie-Thwaites Duo has capitalized on concert performances of the greatest twentieth-century British music over the last decade, and, with this recording, continues it's enduring partnership with SOMM. The takes it's title from an early masterpiece by Bax, Spring Fire, a Symphony for Orchestra from 1913. Coming from a particularly fruitful period when Bax wrote a series of symphonic poems of consistently high quality, it may well have been inspired by his love for the beautiful young pianist Harriet Cohen. Theirs was a passionate love affair and a fertile artistic partnership that lasted forty years. Through force of circumstance, not least of which was World War I, Spring Fire was never performed during Bax's lifetime; but he repurposed the haunting melody from it's opening movement, In the forest before dawn, for the slow movement of the Cello Sonata in E flat minor. Performances of this three-movement Cello Sonata are vanishingly rare, which makes the present all the more important. The recording opens with a little-known gem, the Folk-Tale for cello and piano. It is a gorgeous work dedicated to the English cellist, Felix Salmond, who gave the first performance at Wigmore Hall on 27 April 1918 with Bax at the piano.The first two works on this disc are linked to a fantasy world, while the last two are written with formal clarity and concision. In 1933, Bax dedicated his Sonatina for Cello to the legendary cellist, Pablo Casals, and it fulfils it's slight brief with barely a repeated note. The Legend-Sonata was commissioned by and dedicated to the English cellist Florence Hooton. She gave the pr

Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winner, distinguished soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, Artistic Director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought after and active cellists today. Bailey grew up in Northern Virginia, where he was influenced and inspired by Rostropovich, who was then Director of the National Symphony. His parents are musicians. His mother is a pianist and his father has a Doctorate in both music and education. As an energetic four year old, while running furiously down a back hallway following a concert, Zuill Bailey had his first Inchrun- in Inch with a cello. The instrument was broken following the encounter but not Bailey's spirit. He announced then that the cello would be his instrument of choice. The rest is history. Bailey's performance instrument is made by the great Venetian cello maker, Matteo Gofriller in 1693. On this new , he presents Cello Concertos by Haydn alongside the Philharmonia Orchestra. This was recorded at the Wimbledon International Music Festival. Album Tracks 1. Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, H. Viib No. 1 2. Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, H. Viib No. 2