Theme for a prince (Walton) - from CDA68373 - Hyperion Records

Reviews

‘As ever with Isserlis, his conversational booklet notes, with their plethora of personal anecdotes and musicological musings, are an integral part of the pleasure … Walton’s Theme for a Prince, composed in 1969 for Prince Charles’s 21st birthday, rarely gets a recorded outing, yet its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 16 bars come with a spacious, lyrical beauty from Isserlis that’s been stopping me in my tracks on each fresh hearing. Or there’s Isserlis’s postscripting of Britten’s dark Third Cello Suite—a multi-hued reading of immense beauty that rings with the impression of emotional authenticity—with four traditional Russian themes Britten borrowed for it … perhaps what I value most about this programme, though, is the supple, lyric beauty Isserlis draws from his 1726 ‘Marquis de Corberon’ Stradivarius at every turn, and particularly in the Britten Suite. We critics often relish it when an artist isn’t afraid of a bit of ugly in the pursuit of making a searing point. Yet Isserlis reminds us that it’s possible to bring tonal beauty to even the most pained musical expression without pulling any emotional punches’ (Gramophone)

‘The performance itself [of the Britten Cello Suite] digs deep. This is, as he says, a meditation on mortality. Isserlis makes it huge, and terrifying, fired by an incandescent spirituality’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

PERFORMANCE

RECORDING

‘I think it's a stunning performance of the Britten, filled with emotional conviction … it's a mesmerizing lockdown project’ (BBC Record Review)

‘British Solo Cello Music brings together works by Benjamin Britten, William Walton, John Gardner, Frank Merrick and Thomas Adès. Many have personal connections with Isserlis, recounted in a liner note full enough to act as a social history of 20th-century cello music … Isserlis brings all his intelligence and passion to this impassioned music [the Britten Cello Suite] but offers other moods too’ (The Guardian)» More

‘Inevitably perhaps the towering contribution comes with Britten’s Suite No 3—a masterpiece of solo writing. Isserlis is truly under the skin of this work, providing acute attention to detail with regard to articulation. Beyond that, though, he fathoms the range of emotions so perfectly, with both elegant and raw playing to suit the invention … the recording has both bloom and clarity which is perfect for the solo genre’ (The Strad)» More

‘There are continuities, coincidences, parallels and surprises in store for the inquisitive collector. Isserlis plays beautifully and is splendidly recorded’ (MusicWeb International)» More

«Steven Isserlis, comme tout le monde, s’est retrouvé à l’arrêt au début du printemps 2020. Le violoncelle solo fut une planche de salut : il se remit à travailler une grande Suite que Frank Merrick (1886-1981) lui avait donnée en mains propres. Notre jeune virtuose avait alors dix-sept ans et s’était pris d’affection pour ce pianiste qui futl’élève de Leschetizky et débuta sous la baguette de Hans Richter … Britten est également au programme avec deux partitions taillées pour Rostropovich : le vigoureux Thema qu’il écrivit en 1976, déjà très affaibli, pour le soixante-dixième anniversaire de Sacher, et l’importante Suite no 3 (1971), ici défendue avec passion et engagement … On en ressort avec Sola (2000), piécette très prenante écrite par Thomas Adès … Toute une époque» (Diapason, France)» More

Introduction
English

If Britten was our national icon, William Walton was, by the time he composed the two pieces on this album, our elder statesman—albeit an absent one, living in Ischia. His short Theme for a prince, subtitled ‘Tema (per variazioni)’, bears a number of parallels with Britten’s Tema ‘Sacher’. Walton’s was written as part of an album of fourteen pieces composed in honour of Prince Charles’s twenty-first birthday, in 1969; most of them featured the prince’s chosen instruments, the cello and the trumpet. (John Gardner’s contribution to the collection required the performer to play the trumpet with his or her right hand, and the cello with the left hand, simultaneously—quite a challenge!) Like Britten, Walton seems to have intended his theme to provide material for sets of variations by the other composers; and again, it seems doubtful whether any of them used it as such. However, in 1999 I attempted to make amends by commissioning a piece from Robert Saxton based on this theme, and I’m glad I did; his Sonata on a theme of William Walton is a powerful work. The little theme does also stand by itself, however—as here, its sixteen bars of varying metre creating an effect of intimate spaciousness.

Recording details: August 2020
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Rachel Smith
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: October 2021
Total duration: 1 minutes 28 seconds

Cover artwork: Photograph of Steven Isserlis (detail). Kevin Davis

Theme for a prince

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Reviews

Introduction