Customer Reviews

Vivaldi: Complete Cello Sonatas [2 CD's+DVD]

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A friend just e-mailed me a music review from the New York Times of a few days ago, in which the dingbat reviewer declared that Beethoven all but invented the cello as a serious instrument in his sonatas for cello and piano. Previous composers, the reviewer insisted, had used only the upper strings and upper register of the instrument and failed to recognize the potential of the lower sonorities. Hello? Bach? Vivaldi? Telemann? Not to mention the possible collateral achievements of English and French composers for the bass viol da gamba.

Ophelie Gaillard - her name is NOT Pulcinella - plays these cello and keyboard sonatas with gruff intensity and ferocious dexterity, and at A415, a pitch that emphasizes their lowest sonorities. For once, Gaillard's performance is probably not my favorite, but I call your attention to it because it has MP3 samples. If you're a Times subscriber, write the doofuses and denounce their ignorance for me!

This is my first exposure to Pulcinella as a cellist. She certainly is a very adequate player technically and the fast movements are very fun to listen to. Pulcinella is not only a great player, but the harpsichord and the other instruments really help set the mood. The fast movements are very exciting but sometimes I wish she'd slow down a bit. The way she plays them it makes them all sound very similar. The slow movements especially suffer from this. At first I thought it was because the pieces were subpar, but then I heard Wispelwey's recording and the slow movements sounded great.

Pulcinella is a great cellist, but she needs to slow down and think about the musicality of the pieces. These recordings certainly aren't bad (I especially like the E minor), but if you haven't heard these I really recommend Peter Wispelwey's recordings.