Emmanuelle Bertrand
CELLO
Ernest Bloch
Suites for cello
Harmonia Mundi, 2000Emmanuelle Bertrand, cello
Pascal Amoyel, piano
This recording of chamber music rarities links two creative periods in the life of the Swiss composer Ernest Bloch. The rhapsodic Méditation hébraïque (1925) is imbued with that feeling for Jewish melody and rhythms that made Bloch famous in the early twentieth century. Similar intensity of sound is to be found in his three Suites for solo cello, written between 1956 and 1958, which make use of forms from Baroque music.
This title was released for the first time in 2003.
BLOCH, Ernest (1880-1959)
Suite n°1 for solo cello
Méditation hébraïque
Jewish Life
Suite n°2 for solo cello
Nirvana
Suite n°3 for solo cello
Nigun
Press
BBC Music Magazine, April 2014
Bertrand's warm and expansive probing of Bloch's late neo-baroque solo suites complements the earlier more heart-on-sleeve style of the Jewish works, stylishly accompanied by Amoyel. ****
Joanne Talbot, The Strad, February 2004
[...] a truly committed performance from Emmanuelle Bertrand and excellent recording quality [...] Both Bertrand and pianist Pascal Amoyel have an obvious affinity with the musical idiom, delivering performances of great sensitivity, particularly in Prayer, where Bertrand conjures up bow strokes that are by turns mysteriously breathy or fiercely ardent.
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 23 January 2004
Underrated, like most of Bloch's music, they are played here with aristocratic dignity by Emmanuelle Bertrand.
Michael Dervan, The Irish Times, 8 January 2004
Emmanuelle Bertrand is a highly persuasive guide to this rewarding repertoire, and Pascal Amoyel is a sympathetic partner in the works with piano.
Anthony Holden, The Observer, 8 January 2004
These graceful performances by Emmanuelle Bertrand are interlaced with solos for both cello (From Jewish Life) and piano (Nirvana), all overdue this elegant airing.
Diapason, 2003
Emmanuelle Bertrand et Pascal Amoyel en habitent la mélancolie, les joies et les peines avec une intériorité superbe, fuyant le pathétisme pour choisir la voie de la seule dignité.
UPCOMING CONCERTS
Massy, France
Paris, France
Maisons-Alfort, France
Boulogne/Billancourt, France
Saintes, France