High altitude excursions on the cello

Like Johann Sebastian Bach and later Joseph Haydn, Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) emancipated the cello from its continuo function and treated it as an instrument for true virtuosos in his twelve concertos. Now the Swiss cellist Constantin Macherel, born in Lausanne in 1991, has chosen Boccherini's Cello Concerto in D major (G 479) for his debut CD with the London Mozart Players (conductor: Sebastian Comberti) alongside other technically demanding, musically catchy pieces. Macherel's slender, flexible, only occasionally somewhat narrow tone is ideal for the spectacular flights of fancy that the Italian composer demands of the performer. His Joseph Hill cello from 1765 sounds as fine as a violin in the high register. The careful, tasteful vibrato and airy phrasing lend the interpretation lightness and esprit. The slow movement is touching in its simplicity. The London Mozart Players are subtle accompanists - only sometimes, as in the finale, one wishes for a stronger profile.

In the imagination Souvenir de Spa op. 2 by Adrien François Servais, the cellist, who studied with Ivan Monighetti in Basel and Raphael Wallfisch in Zurich, demonstrates his subtle bowing technique. Rossini's Une larme, Thème et variations with great cantability. And August-Joseph Franchomme's musical language, which is exciting to a limited extent, is also enhanced by Macherel's fine stylistic flair, as in the Variations sur deux thèmes (russe et écossais) op. The fact that the banal Scottish theme would also fit in well with a Rosamunde Pilcher film is ultimately not the interpreter's fault. Macherel's restraint makes it enjoyable and prevents it from becoming too kitschy.