The listener seeing the title "Souvenirs" on this release by cellist Gautier Capuçon might expect a program of encores, mostly French, with composers like Saint-Saëns prominent in the mix. Saint-Saëns is there, but the three-disc program opens with the magnificently sober Bach Suite No. 1 for solo cello, BWV 1007, and continues with the spiky, virtuosic Cello Sonata, Op. 8, of Kodály. What's happening is that Capuçon has combined new recordings of the Bach and Kodály and works by Henri Dutilleux and Javier Martínez Campos ...
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The listener seeing the title "Souvenirs" on this release by cellist Gautier Capuçon might expect a program of encores, mostly French, with composers like Saint-Saëns prominent in the mix. Saint-Saëns is there, but the three-disc program opens with the magnificently sober Bach Suite No. 1 for solo cello, BWV 1007, and continues with the spiky, virtuosic Cello Sonata, Op. 8, of Kodály. What's happening is that Capuçon has combined new recordings of the Bach and Kodály and works by Henri Dutilleux and Javier Martínez Campos with a sort of greatest-hits collection of his recordings over 20 years for the Erato label, including chamber music and concertos. It's a rather unwieldy set with little to unify it beyond Capuçon's presence, but there are lots of attractive stops along the way, beginning with the unusually warm, lyrical reading of the Bach G major cello suite. One is also reminded at several points of Capuçon's skills as a chamber player as he melts into the texture. Capuçon fans will find plenty of...
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