A recent release on Harmonia Mundi contains two important Dutilleux works for cello, the diminutive but weightily-argued, Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher, for solo cello and Tout un monde lointain (effectively a cello concerto – indeed that was its original title). This is separated by Debussy’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor. The memory of Rostropovich hangs heavily over the two Dutilleux works – he commissioned them both. The recording of Tout un monde, however, makes a compelling alternative to the Russian’s recorded interpretation, even if it would be impossible to supersede it.
A complete contrast is Lucas Richman’s In Truth on Albany Records, which contains recordings of his Concerto for Piano, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra and Three Piaces for Cello and Orchestra with the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra. The style won’t be for po-faced lovers of esoteric contemporary music. It is unabashedly romantic – a mixture of Rachmaninov, schmalzando film music and sturm und drang melodrama. It’s well-crafted and kind of hard to resist.
You will probably need a good palette cleanser after such sweet fare. An ideal place to find this is in the crystalline beauty of Juan Carlos Paz. His is an important name in Latin-American circles, but not so well-known elsewhere. His new disk on Wergo contains four works for chamber forces, from solo piano to septet. The style is clearly derived from Webern, it has all of his serial clarity but at the same time is more expansive and picturesque. If you are like me, you probably won’t want to listen to the whole programme in one sitting, but as a refreshing change and one work at a time, it is – to paraphrase another composer – like a glass of cold water in a world of elaborate cocktails.