Steven Isserlis, Lorin Maazel - Strauss: Don Quixote - Complete Works for Violoncello (2001)

This survey of Strauss cello works includes one of the finest Don Quixotes since Pierre Fournier’s matchlessly aristocratic Berlin and Cleveland accounts. Steven Isserlis first met Cervantes’ “Knight of Rueful Countenance” a decade ago when he recorded the work for Virgin with the Minnesota Orchestra under Edo de Waart. You could take absolute technical command for granted, but what was doubly impressive was the way Isserlis brought out the Don’s internalized conflicts (an old man’s obsession with chivalry nullified by failing physical powers) so vividly. His insights emerge even more potently in this remake with Lorin Maazel and the Bavarian RSO. It’s impeccably delivered, with outstanding solo playing from Isserlis and his equally fine (but un-credited) Sancho Panza (viola) and also from the orchestra’s concertmaster.

Maazel’s Bavarian RCA Strauss survey has been censured for its often highly indulgent approach (that’s an issue with Karajan’s EMI “Don” with Rostropovich, too), but here there are no such concerns. Maazel’s characterizations of the adventures of the “Dynamic Duo” (as Isserlis dubs the main protagonists in his humorous program notes) are exemplary. Hear the cranky muted trumpet fanfares in the introduction (as our heroes set out on their quest), or try out Variation II’s bleating sheep. Alternatively, savor the drab ecclesiastical dialogue between bassoons masquerading as monks in Variation IX, or the solo oboe’s presentation of Lady Dulcinea’s theme, which is most beautifully done. Similarities between Isserlis and Fournier in the main solo part are many, and of newer “Dons”, John Sharp’s lively portrayal with fellow Chicago Symphony principals under Barenboim (Teldec), and Franz Bartolomey’s Previn/VPO version (Telarc) each yield to Isserlis. There are inspired moments, many of them, in his RCA performance; one of the best of all comes in Variation V, where not even Fournier and Szell conjured up the image of the elderly knight’s vigil over his rusty armor and slumbering servant more movingly. The other works here are also superbly realized, and demonstration sound quality completes the deal.