PROVOCATIVE THOUGHTS: 
The late Patric Standford may have written these short pieces deliberately to provoke our feedback. If so, his success is reflected in the rich range of readers' comments appearing at the foot of most of the pages.
Music of the Angels - Cello Concertos, Sonatas & Quintets by Luigi Boccherini
CDA68444 (Hyperion Records, CD)
FIRST RELEASE (1 November 2024)
Tracks: 16
Booklet pages: 21
℗ 2024 Hyperion Records Ltd
© 2024 Hyperion Records Ltd
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of Music of the Angels - Cello Concertos, Sonatas & Quintets by Luigi Boccherini published on 20 November 2024
Steven Isserlis, cello, conductor
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (tracks 1-3 and 13-15)
Matthew Truscott, violin solo (tracks 1-3 and 13-15)
Margaret Faultless, violin solo (tracks 1-3 and 13-15)
Maggie Cole, harpsichord (track 4)
Luise Buchberger, cello (track 10)
Jonian Ilias Kadesha, violin (tracks 7-9 and 16)
Irène Duval, violin (tracks 7-9 and 16)
Eivind Ringstad, viola (tracks 7-9 and 16)
Tim Posner, cello (tracks 7-9 and 16)
Luigi Boccherini:
Cello Concerto in D, G 479 - cadenzas by Steven Isserlis
1 Allegro
2 Adagio
3 Allegro
Cello Sonata in C minor, G 2b
4 Allegro
5 Largo
6 Allegretto
String Quintet in D minor, G 280
7 Allegro
8 Andante sostenuto
9 Fuga: Allegro giusto
Cello Sonata in F, G 9
10 Andantino
11 Adagio assai
12 Tempo di minuetto amoroso
Cello Concerto in A, 'The Frog', G 475 - cadenzas by Steven Isserlis
13 Allegro
14 Adagio
15 Rondo: Allegro
String Quintet in E, G 275
16 Minuetto & Trio
Steven Isserlis and friends collaborate on a heavenly program of Boccherini's concertos and chamber music for cello. Five bewitching works are included - one of the composer's numerous string quintets flanked by two each of his cello sonatas and concertos, plus an encore of perhaps the most famous minuet ever written - this is truly 'music of the angels'.
Recorded 28-29 March (tracks 4-9 and 16) and 11-13 December 2023 at St Silas the Martyr, Kentish Town, London, UK.