Kurt Atterberg’s Cello Concerto is so beautiful and melodically attractive that you hardly notice the absence of thematic development (partly a function of the composer’s dislike of counterpoint) or the fact that it may be a bit long for its material. What this means in practical terms is that the music needs passionate advocacy from the soloist, and that’s just what it receives from Truls Mork, who plays the piece as if his life depended on it. There’s only one caveat that will be more serious to some listeners than for others: Mork’s breathing is so heavy and obtrusive that it supplies a good bit of the counterpoint that Atterberg normally lacks. It’s a common problem with string soloists today (happily winds and brass need their breath to play their instruments), and I wish that recording producers would throw down the gauntlet and tell the players to cool it or forget about making recordings. That said, and because the performance as such is enjoyable in all other respects, I can recommend it enthusiastically.
Brahms’ Sextet No. 2 already is a rich and opulent piece of string writing as it stands, a fact that can be used to argue either (a)it doesn’t benefit from being arranged for string orchestra, or (b)it’s perfectly suited to being arranged for string orchestra. Let’s just say that Atterberg knew what he was doing, and that the work sounds very beautiful and entirely natural in its larger guise. The orchestra plays it well, if naturally without the level of nuance perceptible in the finest renditions of the original chamber scoring, and Kristjan Järvi conducts both this work and the concerto affectionately–but also with the necessary vigor and flow. If only Mork had managed to control his snorting this would be a “10” for artistic merit, but as it stands this release constitutes another valuable addition to the growing Atterberg discography. [6/25/2007]
