Anne Gastinel - Tanguy: Cello Concertos (2007)

Eric Tanguy (born in1968) is among the most prolific and frequently performed French composers of his generation. Tanguy's music sounds very much like that of a large number of composers of a variety of nationalities who were old enough, when they came of age musically, to have absorbed serial techniques but were young enough to see that there was a world of other options for classical music gaining traction and respectability. Their music has the discipline and some of the rigors of serialism while working with a broadly expanded, eclectic harmonic palette. It's not discernibly tonal, but it's not serial, either, and it often has a lyrical impulse that never quite settles into a distinctive melody; its bread and butter are its gestural and textural variety. It's skillfully and inventively put together, brilliantly orchestrated, and frequently strongly expressionistic, but a weakness is that it can offer little immediately memorable content for general audiences to carry away from the concert hall. Tanguy's two cello concertos (1995 and 2000, the second written for Rostropovich) fit this characterization, but repeated and focused exposure to the pieces reveals an intense expressivity, and the slow movements are particularly lovely. Cellist Anne Gastinel plays with eloquence and wonderfully full tone, and she's ably accompanied by Orchestre National de France, conducted by Alain Altinoglu. Naïve's sound is clean and spacious, but on the quiet side, so you may need to bump up the volume a little.