The long-awaited solo album from Decca’s star cellist sees Weilerstein revealing and revelling in her technique. The American cellist has attracted widespread attention worldwide for her combination of natural virtuosic command and technical precision with impassioned musicianship. The intensity of her playing has regularly been lauded, as has the spontaneity and sensitivity of her interpretations. Committed to expanding the cello repertoire, Alisa is a fervent champion of new music and this release is her first solo album.
Calling for left hand pizzicato as well an alternative tuning of the cello’s lower strings, Kodaly’s Sonata was far ahead of the time in which it was written and explored every facet of the cello, revealing what could be done with this instrument.
Many of Kodaly’s works are based upon Hungarian folksongs & dances, and this theme inspires the rest of the album, with works from the in-vogue Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov, across the world to the Chinese composer Bright Sheng.
Sheng’s work is based on seven tunes from China (Seasons, Guessing Song, The Little Cabbage, The Drunken Fisherman, Diu Diu Dong, Pastoral Ballade, Tibetan Dance). Golijov’s Omaramor is a musically playful fantasia inspired by Carols Gardel (the Argentine tango specialist); and Gaspar Cassado’s Suite, consisting of three dance movements, quotes the Kodaly work.
Reviews: Alisa Weilerstein is one of those musicians born for their instrument. Debuting at the ripe old age of 13 with the Cleveland Orchestra, she has taken the world by storm with her cello performances of old and new works. Luckily for us, she’s coming to Melbourne to perform a single show of her solo repertoire. Including the works of Bach to Golijov (who she has worked extensively with), this show is not to be missed. However, if you can’t wait until then, get a copy of her new album, Solo, which features some of the works she will be performing.
Weilerstein starts her album with a solo Cello Sonata by Kodály. Written during the height of World War I, it is considered a standard work for a cellist to learn, as it was the first major work for solo cello written since Bach’s epic Suites. Having never heard it myself until listening to this album, I found it more challenging than Bach’s works, and therefore much more interesting. Technically, Weilerstein took my breath away with her mastery of this work, and musically it had so many interesting corners; it took a number of listens until I felt I started to understand Kodály’s overall intention.
Following this massive work is Omaramor, by Golijov. This is a stormy work, testing what the cello is able to achieve and what our ears can recognise. There are constant hints at tango rhythms, but just when it seems a groove has been set, Golijov turns the music away. This does not detract from the music; instead, it lends it more of an authoritative air. You feel Golijov and Weilerstein know the answer to everything together but as yet, are not ready to share it. If you can’t make the concert, at least make sure that you listen to this stunning album.
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Tracklisting:
1. I. Allegro maestoso ma appassionato
2. II. Adagio con gran espressione
3. III. Allegro molto vivace
4. Osvaldo Golijov: Omaramor
5. I. Preludio-Fantasia a Zarabanda
6. II. Sardana
7. III. Intermezzo e Danza Finale a Jota
8. Seasons
9. Guessing Song
10. Little Cabbage
11. The Drunken Fisherman
12. Diu Diu Dong
13. Pastoral Ballade
14. Tibetan Dance
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Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GH70N Adapter: 0 ID: 0
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Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:Program Files (x86)Exact Audio CopyFLACFLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%--tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albumartist%" -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%
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Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:Program Files (x86)Exact Audio CopyFLACFLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%--tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albumartist%" -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%
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