Back in 2004, when he was visiting this country, Steven Isserlis told me categorically that Elgar and Walton had written two of the finest cello concertos of the 20th century. How pleasing it is to have these works paired on the English cellist's new Hyperion album with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Paavo Jarvi.
Isserlis recorded the Elgar back in 1994 on Virgin Classics and revisiting it, there is a considerably wider emotional range in his response. This can be heard from the very opening bars where darkness is tempered by soulful light.
Impeccable lyricism carries Isserlis aloft into the main Moderato section, in which he pursues an almost nocturne-like melancholy, in between the storming stoicism of Jarvi's orchestral tutti.
How well Isserlis understands the important improvisatory touches in this work and we follow him, note by note, phrase by phrase, as we might an eloquent speaker or actor, especially in the sighing Adagio, with its sobbing portamenti.
Walton's concerto, which Aucklanders have been fortunate enough to hear twice in concert during the last year, is a delight. Few cellists could match the sense of playful engagement between soloist and the orchestra around him.
