Brahms & Schumann: Works for Cello & Piano

Lee Luvisi Colin Carr (Artist), Colin Carr (Performer), Johannes Brahms (Composer), Robert Schumann (Composer), Lee Luvisi (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Colin Carr, Lee Luvisi
• Composer: Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann
• Audio CD (March 9, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arabesque Recordings
• ASIN: B000050I0G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,499 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #21 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Reeds & Winds > English Horn

Editorial Reviews

From International Record Review - subscribe now

These are intelligent, sensitively expounded versions of the Brahms sonatas. Carr and Luvisi, fine players both, are well matched; they sound thoroughly comfortable with each other as duo partners. The balance between the instruments is near-perfect, and many details that pass for little in some other performances are vividly brought out. In these satisfying and thoroughly musicianly accounts, it is the lyrical and intimate sides of these works that come off best. The minuet-like central movement of the E minor Sonata is very flexibly and poetically paced,with some beautifully judged rubato. The veiled quality of the quieter parts of the development in the F major's first movement, and the autumnal liquidation of the tempestuous material into lyric regret in the grazioso passage towards the close, are most expressively projected, with some really fine playing by both instrumentalists. It's in the most fiery and unbuttoned parts of the sonatas that I hesitate to award top marks: not that there isn't plenty of spirited and bravura musicianship on show, but the tempos often seem on the careful side, and in, say, Op. 38's concluding fugue or the Scherzo of Op. 99, the sheer dash and élan one finds in some of the greatest performances aren't quite there. I was raised on János Starker's Saga LP with Abba Bogin – unavailable for many a long year but happily now reissued on CD – his magisterial later account with Rudolf Buchbinder also knocks spots off practically all other performances (save, perhaps, the rather more epic view of Rostropovich and Serkin). Starker/Buchbinder have precisely the passionate daring that I don't find in the Carr/Luvisi duo. A pity, though, about the unnaturally spotlit recording.That said, the other item on this new disc, the cello version of Schumann's Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, receives a glorious performance: the cycle's intimate lyricism suits Carr perfectly, but he also shapes the three movements to create the sense of a miniature sonata, and the last piece really is played Rasch und mit Feuer as if making up for the too-careful moments of the Brahms. There are not many recommendable versions of Op. 73 in its cello incarnation: though Maisky and Argerich are wonderfully imaginative they are also rather wayward for some tastes; Carr and Luvisi play the pieces straighter, without an iota less affection.Calum MacDonald

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEWITCHING BRAHMS, May 24, 2003

By 

Melvyn M. Sobel "Melvyn M. Sobel" (Freeport, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms & Schumann: Works for Cello & Piano (Audio CD)

Having recently "binged" on a various lot of recordings of Brahms' Sonatas for Cello and Piano, most notably the Ma/Ax, Wispelwey/Komen, Rose/Pommier and the Rostropovich/Serkin, I came to the partnership of Colin Carr and Lee Luvisi with few or absolutely no expectations. I was literally turned around. Eschewing the bravado and pyrotechnical prowess employed in the usual obligatory fashion, these meditative artists paint the sonatas in romantic strokes that are completely idiomatic, deeply moving, penetrating and endlessly illuminating. Rarely have I heard a cellist more attuned, literally, to the autumnal dialogue between angst and joy that Brahms invests in these elusive works, nor have I encountered a pianist as faithfully simpatico. The superior recording, as well, enhances and optimizes the artists' vision. Carr's cello is raptly caught, its emotional permutations, from the highest cry to the lowest sigh, breathtaking; and Luvisi's piano, the perfect amalgam, is also the perfect lover. So well suited are these musicians that the sonatas truly become ethereal dances of the most delicate passion and nuance.

Carr and Luvisi close the CD with a beautiful rendition of Schumann's Fantasiestucke, Op. 73, pieces that complement the Brahms sonatas with just the right balance of melancholy and spontaneity.

[Running time: 66:47]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Silky-smooth Brahms, March 27, 2006

By 

Alan Lekan (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brahms & Schumann: Works for Cello & Piano (Audio CD)

This is an equisite, poised, warm-hearted performance of Brahms (and Schumann's) well-conceived pieces for cello and piano, bathed in a beautiful, full-bodied recording ambiance. While the record label (Arabesque) or performers (Colin Carr, Lee Luvisi) might not be the most well-known, they do have a strong reputation for quality and artistry. I have greatly enjoyed other performances by Colin Carr on Arabesque (Dvorak piano trios) and this CD is equally full of depth, insight and melodic beauty.

Carr and Luvisi bring a "restrained passion" to these masterpieces that brims with an attractive but measured German-Romantic expressivity. In the masterful contrapuntal movements, their ensemble is completely in synch with Brahms' visions of Bach that brings out the interplay with great vivicity. Like the reviewer below notes, their's is somewhat of an "autumnal" take on these works which impart an effortless, lyrically-puntuated flow to the music that makes it rather irresistable. Carr's cello indeed does sing with a gorgeous tonality and silky smooth melodic phrasing throughout - especially in the opening movement of the first sonata, the tender adagio of the second and the middle movements of the Schumann fantasy piece. In some ways, his tone and style reminds me of the romantic, sensual playing of Misha Maisky - which is a definitely a compliment in this repertoire.

Additionally, this recording got high marks from the Third Ear Guide to Classical Music (but was absent from Gramophone or Penguin as the USA Arabesque label is not well known in the UK). And while there is a quiver of fine recordings of these cello sonatas (du Pre, Rostropovich, Starker, Ma, Wispelwey, Isserlis), this one by Carr and Luvisi can complete with the best, especially for listeners who favor a buttery smooth, tonally sensual interpretation. It has become a favorite of my large collection. Superb compositions + equisite playing + vivid sound + low price = 5 stars.