Christian Poltéra, Ronald Brautigam – Brahms & Schumann – Works for Cello and Piano (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:23 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
Six years after their acclaimed disc devoted to Mendelssohn’s works for cello and piano, Christian Poltera and Ronald Brautigam now tackle the two cello sonatas by Johannes Brahms, two central works in the repertoire, unquestionably the most important since those by Beethoven. The First Cello Sonata was composed between 1862 and 1865 when Brahms was in his thirties. He seemed intent on showcasing the lyricism of an instrument that is often compared to the human voice. Composed 24 years later, the Second Cello Sonata makes greater use of the cello’s range, particularly in the upper register. A common feature of these two sonatas is that the role of the piano is never secondary (Brahms was an excellent pianist) and the dialogue between the two instruments is both inexhaustible and complex. The programme also includes the Funf Stucke im Volkston (Five Pieces in Folk Style) by Robert Schumann, Brahms’s early mentor. Composed in Schumann’s late years, this short cycle reflects the composer’s taste for small, expressive pieces in, as the title suggests, a popular and accessible idiom. These miniatures draw their charm not only from the cello’s marvellous nuances but also from the ‘folk style’.
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Christian Poltéra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen – Martin, Honegger, Schoeck: Three Cello Concertos (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:12:38 minutes | 663 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
In 2007-08, the Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra made his debut on BIS with a series of discs dedicated to three compatriots of his: the composers Othmar Schoeck, Arthur Honegger and Frank Martin. The unconventional programmes mixed chamber music and orchestral works centred on the cello, and were received with acclaim by the international music press. ‘An ideal introduction to Martin’s music’ enthused the reviewer in Gramophone, where that release was an Editor’s Choice, while the Schoeck anthology was described as ‘a beautifully-played collection that fills an important gap’ in American Record Guide, and the French magazine Diapason gave the Honegger disc its Diapason d’or, calling it ‘une pure merveille’. In reviews of all three discs, the orchestral support from the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and Tuomas Hannikainen was especially remarked upon, as were the respective virtues of the three concertos: ‘a nostalgic, dark-hued lyrical quality that makes for absorbing listening’ (Schoeck, International Record Review); ‘a typically suave, sophisticated score, boasting a surprisingly astringent but compellingly rhythmic Finale’ (Martin, BBC Music Magazine); ‘wonderful, jazzy tunes …, plenty of fireworks for the soloist, and it packs a huge amount of contrast into its quarter-hour of playing time’ (Honegger, ClassicsToday.com). These three works, composed between 1929 and 1966 and all too rarely heard today, have now been combined; an occasion not to be missed by anyone interested in exploring some highly individual 20 th-century cello scores, or in getting to know one of today’s most impressive young cellists.
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Christian Poltéra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Thomas Dausgaard – Dvořák & Martinů: Cello Concertos (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:18 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
Since 2007, cellist Christian Poltéra has recorded a number of acclaimed discs for BIS, of less often heard concertos by composers such as Othmar Schoeck, Frank Martin and Samuel Barber, as well as contemporary classics including Henri Dutilleux’s ‘Toute un monde lointain…’. Across the world, reviewers have been bowled over by Poltéra’s effortless technique, but even more so by his communicative skills and beautiful sound, typically using adjectives such as ‘glowing’, ‘lyrical’, ‘ripe’ and ‘singing’. These are of course qualities that will enhance any repertoire, and here, on his latest disc, Poltéra has occasion to apply them to one of the truly great Romantic concertos. Dvořák once famously expressed as his opinion that the cello was unsuitable as a solo instrument, going on to compose what was to become one of the most beautiful, as well as popular, concertos in the repertoire. Although the solo part is demanding, the work is by no means a bravura showpiece. Instead, the orchestra and soloist form an integral whole, something which is admirably brought out in the interaction between Poltéra and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Thomas Dausgaard. When he composed his First Cello Concerto, in 1930, Dvořák’s compatriot Bohuslav Martinů also wanted to create a work involving dialogue between soloist and orchestra. Inspired by the concerto grosso form of the baroque era, he wrote a first version for cello and chamber orchestra, which he revisited in 1939, expanding it for large orchestra. In 1955 he returned to the concerto once again to create a third and final version, which has become one of his most popular works.
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Christian Poltéra & Kathryn Stott – R. Schumann, C. Schumann & Brahms: Sonatas & Songs (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:05:17 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
During the eighteenth century the cello gradually emerged from the anonymity of the continuo group, and by the beginning of the Romantic era the instrument had become an indispensable tool for composers. Robert Schumann, who had himself taken cello lessons, was very fond of it, describing is as a ‘beautiful instrument’; and Johannes Brahms, who acquired considerable skill as a cellist, praised its ‘masculine, serious character’. It is therefore to be hoped that neither composer would object to Christian Poltéra’s sensitive adaptations of their works.
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Christian Poltéra & Munich Chamber Orchestra – Haydn & Hindemith: Cello Works (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:56 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
Joseph Haydn once remarked: ‘I was not a magician on any instrument, but I knew the power and effect of all of them.’ This knowledge he used to good effect in his cello concertos, composed some twenty years apart for two different cellists in ‘his’ orchestra at the court of Prince Esterhazy. Both works are firmly established in the concert repertoire, but this has not always been the case.
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Trio Zimmermann – A Retrospective (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 05:34:04 minutes | 5,41 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
In 2007 Frank Peter Zimmermann was able to realize his long-cherished dream to establish a string trio, together with Antoine Tamestit and Christian Poltéra. Three individually superb string players do not necessarily add up to a top-flight trio – even if they all play on instruments by Stradivarius, as here – but Trio Zimmermann immediately made a name for itself at international festivals and prestigious concert venues. In 2010 the trio released its first recording – with Mozart’s seminal Divertimento – to critical acclaim. More than 10 years later, that recording was the top recommendation in the Record Review series “Building a Library” on BBC Radio 3.
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