The recordings of cellist Matt Haimovitz often have an experimentalist cast, but on this recital of French cello-and-piano music, gracefully accompanied by pianist Mari Kodama, he plays it straight and achieves fine results. Haimovitz puts together a strong program of music that, as he notes, takes up the question of just what is French about French music. He covers several generations of composers, from Fauré to Poulenc, but unites everything into a gentle, nostalgic mood. Nothing is really overly familiar, and along the way, there are some interesting rarities by the Boulanger sisters, Lili and Nadia, whose output continues to yield attractive works. It is often Lili who is thought the stronger of the pair as a composer, but Haimovitz's transcription of her Two Pieces for violin and piano rests a bit uncomfortably at the top of the cellist's range, but Nadia's Three Pieces for cello and piano, native to the cello, are fascinating and unlike much else from the creatively fertile period in which they originated; they have neoclassic qualities but overlay them with a restless spirit. They are admirably paired with Debussy's Cello Sonata in D minor, a work that sought to revivify the French Baroque spirit in modern terms. Haimovitz and Kodama are especially fluid in their cooperation in the Debussy, but they are sensitive to each other throughout; one might easily think them longtime duet partners, but they are not. The "Mon Ami" and "Mon Amour" are apparently Haimovitz's cello, broken in two in a studio accident, repaired, and used here on a recording for the first time. A lovely and satisfyingly coherent French recital, with excellent sound from Skywalker Studios in California.
Mon Ami, Mon Amour
Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama
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Mon Ami, Mon Amour Review
by James Manheim
Track Listing
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, FP143 | |||||||
1 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 05:56 | Amazon | ||||
2 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 06:24 | Amazon | ||||
3 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 03:24 | Amazon | ||||
4 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 06:44 | Amazon | ||||
5 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 03:03 | Amazon | ||||
6 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 04:19 | Amazon | ||||
Deux pièces pour violon et piano | |||||||
7 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 02:58 | Amazon | ||||
8 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 01:41 | Amazon | ||||
Trois pièces | |||||||
9 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 02:37 | Amazon | ||||
10 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 01:30 | Amazon | ||||
11 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 02:37 | Amazon | ||||
12 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 05:48 | Amazon | ||||
Sonate pour violoncelle et piano en ré mineur, L. 135 | |||||||
13 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 04:29 | Amazon | ||||
14 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 03:35 | Amazon | ||||
15 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 03:47 | Amazon | ||||
16 | Matt Haimovitz / Mari Kodama | 03:05 | Amazon |