Alisa Weilerstein; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim - Elgar, Carter: Cello Concertos; Bruch: Kol Nidrei (2012)

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Alisa Weilerstein; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim - Elgar, Carter: Cello Concertos; Bruch: Kol Nidrei (2012)

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Making her debut on Decca, Alisa Weilerstein presents three major works of the cello repertoire with Daniel Barenboim leading the Staatskapelle Berlin. The star vehicle, naturally, is Edward Elgar's Concerto in E minor, which Weilerstein plays with commanding presence, rich tone, and emotional depth. Most listeners will be drawn primarily to this performance because of the piece's familiarity, and Weilerstein's charisma and passionate playing make it the album's main attraction. Yet listeners should give Weilerstein and Barenboim credit for following the Elgar with an important if not instantly recognizable or approachable modernist work, Elliott Carter's powerful Cello Concerto. Weilerstein is quite bold to play this intensely dramatic and angular composition, and while it's unlikely to appeal to the majority of fans who adore the Elgar, it deserves its place on the program for its seriousness and extraordinary displays of solo and orchestral writing. To close, Weilerstein plays Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei, a Romantic work that returns the program to a mellow and melancholy mood and brings the CD to a satisfying close. Decca's reproduction is excellent, putting Weilerstein front and center with full resonance, but not leaving the vibrant accompaniment of the orchestra too far behind her.

Review by Blair Sanderson, Allmusic.com

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Alisa Weilerstein; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim - Elgar, Carter: Cello Concertos; Bruch: Kol Nidrei (2012)

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It was brave of Weilerstein to sandwich Carter between Elgar and Bruch, but there are connections with Barenboim. He gave the first performance of the Carter with Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Symphony in 2001 and, of course, he recorded the Elgar with du Pré.

The young American cellist Alisa Weilerstein has been called the new du Pré and I can see why. Her Elgar is not as wayward as du Pré in the famous 1967 live performance with Barenboim and the Philadelphia Orchestra but it’s still remarkably impressive. Weilerstein’s first movement is more discursive than Tortelier with the LPO under Boult in 1973. The changing moods of the scherzo are perfectly caught; the Adagio is effective, with fewer portamentos than du Pré; and the last Lento in the finale makes an emotional climax.

The Carter Concerto comes from his productive final phase. The idiom is not as abrasive as his middle-period works but he still challenges the soloist. Weilerstein, who starts on her own, as in the Elgar, brings the same immaculate tonal control to bear. Carter said he aimed at ‘meaningful, personal ways of revealing the cello’s vast array of wonderful possibilities’. The soloist is mostly lyrical but the orchestra at times knocks the stuffing out of any sentimentality. The seven sections are continuous and the third one, marked giocoso, adds a touch of humour with some percussion.

The Bruch was written in Liverpool in 1881 when the composer was director of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society. Bruch was a reactionary who didn’t like Liszt and Wagner but his Kol Nidrei is a fine vehicle for Weilerstein’s gorgeous tone. Her developing band of fans will devour this CD.

Review by Peter Dickinson, Gramophone

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Alisa Weilerstein; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim - Elgar, Carter: Cello Concertos; Bruch: Kol Nidrei (2012)

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Weilerstein avoids nostalgia [in the Elgar] and produces instead an account that is full of passion, grief and nobility of feeling…Her interpretation [of the Carter], at once remarkably expressive and a continuous display of headlong, high-pressure virtuosity, seems to me to outrank the existing recorded versions…a thoughtfully-constructed and thought-provoking programme.

Review by BBC Music Magazine, February 2013

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Alisa Weilerstein; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim - Elgar, Carter: Cello Concertos; Bruch: Kol Nidrei (2012)

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Alisa Weilerstein; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim - Elgar, Carter: Cello Concertos; Bruch: Kol Nidrei (2012)

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Alisa Weilerstein; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim - Elgar, Carter: Cello Concertos; Bruch: Kol Nidrei (2012)

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