Pieter Wispelwey - Walton: Cello Concerto (2009)

For this 2009 Onyx disc, Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey has assembled a fascinating program of postwar works for cello and executed it with terrific virtuosity and tremendous conviction. The disc opens with Walton's Cello Concerto accompanied by Jeffrey Tate and the Sydney Symphony, and follows it with four works for solo cello: Bloch's First Suite, Ligeti's Sonata, Walton's Passacaglia, and the concluding Ciaccona from Britten's Second Suite. The best program can be undone by a less than convincing performance, but Wispelwey's playing is never less than wholly compelling. With his stupendous technique, huge tone, and persuasive phrasing, Wispelwey is up to the music's most challenging demands, and the performances are remarkable for the intensity he brings to these works. The pieces on this program are predominantly passionate, and Wispelwey tightens the tension until it reaches a climax in Walton's Passacaglia and Britten's Ciaccona. Onyx's sound may be too atmospheric for some listeners, but the sense of space created by hearing the cellist playing in an enormous empty hall is practically palpable.