Babylon Berlin Stagione 3

As a conductor, Sergiu Celibidache influenced as no other the musical life of Berlin, a metropolis still scarred by the war. The sound documents of this edition, most of which have not been previously released, for the first time paint a comprehensive picture of the conductor during the period between 1945 and 1957. These historic documents, providing new impressions of the legendary conductor, were revealed after intensive research.

Making her debut on Decca, Alisa Weilerstein presents three major works of the cello repertoire with Daniel Barenboim leading the Staatskapelle Berlin. The star vehicle, naturally, is Edward Elgar's Concerto in E minor, which Weilerstein plays with commanding presence, rich tone, and emotional depth. Most listeners will be drawn primarily to this performance because of the piece's familiarity, and Weilerstein's charisma and passionate playing make it the album's main attraction. Yet listeners should give Weilerstein and Barenboim credit for following the Elgar with an important if not instantly recognizable or approachable modernist work, Elliott Carter's powerful Cello Concerto. Weilerstein is quite bold to play this intensely dramatic and angular composition, and while it's unlikely to appeal to the majority of fans who adore the Elgar, it deserves its place on the program for its seriousness and extraordinary displays of solo and orchestral writing. To close, Weilerstein plays Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei, a Romantic work that returns the program to a mellow and melancholy mood and brings the CD to a satisfying close. Decca's reproduction is excellent, putting Weilerstein front and center with full resonance, but not leaving the vibrant accompaniment of the orchestra too far behind her.

Daniel Barenboim has sometimes performed the music of Debussy, especially during the later part of his career, but Debussy interpretations are not something for which he is particularly known. Thus this release of Debussy works, on the rare side except for La Mer at the end, is commendable; it shows Barenboim, approaching his 80th year, continuing to take chances and explore new repertory. The show opens with the Fantaisie for piano and orchestra, L 73, not commonly heard, although it is really Debussy's only piano concerto.

Antonin Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 is a perennial audience favorite, and many cellists play and even record it with conductors with whom they may only have a passing acquaintance. The work is relatively forgiving of such treatment, with melodies, that once heard, reside in the mind forever and need only to be refreshed. However, there's room for more progressive treatments of the work, and this one is an example, with the young cellist Kian Soltani joining Daniel Barenboim and his well-drilled Staatskapelle Berlin. Soltani and Barenboim have worked together consistently; Soltani was the principal cellist in Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in the Middle East.