Reviews

CBSO/Madaras review — a moving new work by Jonathan Dove is born
Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Rebecca Franks
Friday December 10 2021, 12.00pm, The Times

Gergely Madaras did a wonderful job conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s UK premiere of In Exile
BEKI SMITH/CBSO

★★★★☆

Unknown. Unnamed. Untouchable. About two thirds of the way through In Exile Jonathan Dove sets a list of 19 “un” words. They are words that dehumanise. Words attached to the nameless exile at the heart of this piece. “Unknown” floats up, wistfully. “Unnamed” falls into the depths. “Untouchable” snarls with fury. It’s a powerful sequence in a moving new piece from the British composer, commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as part of its centenary celebrations, and surely bound to have a life beyond its UK premiere.

In Exile has many strengths. Coherence is chief among them. The piece sits somewhere between a song cycle, an operatic scena and a cello concerto. One person is represented by two soloists: baritone and cello. Add to that a text drawn from eight sources — ranging from the Iranian-American writer Kaveh Bassiri’s 99 Names of Exile to an Old English text, The Wayfarer — and this substantial, 30-minute piece could be a muddle. Yet the librettist Alasdair Middleton and Dove make it work: the narrative arc, pacing and point of view all convince.

If the language is more dissonant than Dove’s fans might expect, we’re not talking Birtwistle here. It’s simply part of the piece’s unsettled mood, the undercurrent of anguish. And there’s another virtue: Dove’s storytelling instinct. He guides us through a day in an exile’s life, exploring emotions as part of character. The two soloists — a brooding Simon Keenlyside and an eloquent Raphael Wallfisch — reveal different aspects of the narrator: outer and inner voices; thoughts and feelings; intellect and instinct.

The vocal line is plain, the cello’s more elaborate, while the orchestration is a masterclass in economy. Abstract writing mixes with flashes of pictorialism. The sea is an important presence, captured in undulating strings and a certain bleakness shared with Barber’s Dover Beach. The piece builds in intensity until, over a bass drum beat and brooding lower strings, we reach a profound elegy. “What country, friends, is this?” the narrator asks. Lamenting cellos answer.

This is a story that can speak to any time or place. That was a smart move. For Wallfisch, the hinterland includes the legacy of his mother, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, whose cello playing saved her life in Auschwitz and who is the dedicatee of this piece. That’s impossible to forget when listening, yet there’s also space for the audience to bring their own experiences to the music. Gergely Madaras did a wonderful job conducting. And in the performances of Sibelius’s Finlandia and Dvorak’s New World Symphony, he turned the orchestra into an entire world.

Available on BBC Sounds

BBC Music Magazine, Oct 2017

Music for cello & piano, Bloch

‘Raphael Wallfisch and John York work hand in glove to deliver an expressive account of the Sonata…’ **** Performance

 

Click here to buy the CD

 

 

The Strad, February 2017

There was no lack of personality about Raphael Wallfisch’s commanding interpretation of Elgar’s Cello concerto. Wallfisch clearly had the LPO leader on side in a reading that eschewed the stereotype of Jacqueline du Pré ’s impassioned approach to the work in favour of something more meditative, though never disengaged. The famous Adagio was mellow and songful without undue recourse to pathos. The finale began with crisp and spry intent from the orchestra, and Wallfisch sustained his line with ever more urgent expression, flowing naturally into a heartfelt but not heart-on-sleeve cadenza (Royal Festival Hall, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä)

 

MusicWeb International, Jan 2017
‘If you like the music of Frederick Delius I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be seduced by a saunter through the rhapsodic landscape of the Elegie für orchester mit violoncello principale. Raphael Wallfisch proves himself a persuasive advocate of this luscious score, eloquently contouring the ebb and flow of its organic narrative, whilst savouring its chromatic lyricism’

 

MusicWeb International, May 2014

‘Schelomo is a different matter, where the competition is fiercer. There have been many recordings of it by such cellists as Mstislav Rostropovich, Pierre Fournier, and Yo-Yo Ma, but Raphael Wallfisch has absolutely nothing to fear in comparison. In fact, Wallfisch may be just about the best I’ve heard in this work’

 

Deservedly high praise of Raphael Wallfisch’s Bloch, Caplet and Ravel recording with BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Benjamin Wallfisch.  For the full review click here

 

E-mail from audience member, December 2016
“Please convey to Mr Wallfisch my thanks and great appreciation for his playing on Saturday night (17th Dec 2016) in London. I and my friends were in the front row and I have never had the chance before to see such powerful expressive and beautiful playing so close up. It was a humbling and lifting performance that will live with us all for the rest of our days and I think has changed us all.”

MusicWeb International, October 2016
“Raphael Wallfisch is absolutely splendid, playing very eloquently and persuasively, and he gets marvellous support from William Boughton and the orchestra. This is probably the piece on this particular programme that I think has the most chance of establishing a place in the repertoire now that this recording will bring it to a wider audience.” (Music by Bernard van Dieren – Elegy for Orchestra & Cello, BBC National Orchestra, William Boughton cond. – Lyrita)

Bachtrack, October 2016
“The first movement and later Adagio both found a silvery fluidity of sound which hung beautifully in the air, the LPO matching every bit of the soloist’s legato. An eloquent dialogue between cello and orchestra was maintained throughout, in no small part helped by Wallfisch addressing much of his playing to the first violins while still projecting a full, rich sound into the hall. The finale was forward-looking and light of touch, finding wonderful pianissimo control.” (26th October 2016, Royal Festival Hall, Elgar Cello Concerto, LPO – Osmo Vänskä cond.)

Classical Source, October 2016
“Raphael Wallfisch’s account of the Elgar […] was heartfelt without being mawkish… the Finale was particularly fiery. Such directness brought its own rewards, Wallfisch’s impassioned identification with the solo part going to the heart of the matter without making it obvious… Admirable and persuasive.” (26th October 2016, Royal Festival Hall, Elgar Cello Concerto, LPO – Osmo Vänskä cond.)

The Westmorland Gazette, October 2016
“… Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in which one felt that the soloist Raphael Wallfisch was performing to each member of the audience individually. The English cellist Wallfisch has an international reputation and it was a privilege to hear this great player perform one of the greatest cello concertos ever written… This concerto is not only one which demands a highly accomplished soloist but one who understands the heart and soul of this music as Dvorak put so much of his own personality into it. Both orchestra and soloist are to be congratulated on a truly memorable performance of such depth. Some may have listened to this concerto in a large concert hall performed by a much larger orchestra but few of us will have ever been so involved with a performance as we were last Sunday evening.” (Orchestra of the Swan, David Curtis conductor)

Planethugill.com, September 2016
“… strongly and commandingly played by Wallfisch and York… especially when played with the vibrancy that Wallfisch gives it… a passionate flowing performance from Wallfisch… Wallfisch brings out a lovely singing tone here, making the movement vibrantly intense and both performers give the piece a lovely freedom… a strongly passionate performance from Wallfisch and York.”

Gramophone, September 2016
“… playing with such vindicatory zest. Wallfisch embraces the opening ’s impetuosity and the impish humor of the Ravelian third movement. But what serves him best of all is his full-bodied tone which, together with York’s delicate pianism, locks into the music’s poignancy…. Wallfisch and York are in their element when negotiating the second movement, the work’s epicentre… the urgency they bring to the opening or the grace with which they handle the third movement’s cross-rhythms… Even to the smaller works […] they bring a weight that demonstrates total commitment to Clarke’s cause.” (Rebecca Clarke, Music for Cello and Piano – Lyrita)

BBC Music Magazine Editorial Team comments to the Rebecca Clarke, Music for Cello and Piano recording:
“The performances are wonderful, very live playing from Wallfisch”
“There is a real intensity to his playing and this music”

Rebecca Franks (BBCMM Acting Deputy Editor):
“I thought it was a really great disc, I loved the playing.”

Oliver Condy (BBCMM Editor):
“I thought this was a really valuable recording, I thought the performances were terrific.

Financial Times, August 2016
“Raphael Wallfisch, cellist, and accompanist John York present a siren voice of seductive beauty” **** (Rebecca Clarke, Music for Cello and Piano – Lyrita)

BBC Music Magazine, September 2016
“… Wallfisch gives the finest account on cello I’ve ever heard… Wallfisch delivers a beautiful adagio and York voices every line with superb clarity and coherence, so crucial in this turbulent work…” **** (Rebecca Clarke, Music for Cello and Piano. John York, piano – Lyrita)

MusicWeb International, September 2016
“… so wonderfully and emotionally played by Raphael Wallfisch and John York… Wallfisch and York, as you might expect, make a great partnership and they know the music inside out.” Gary Higginson (Rebecca Clarke, Music for Cello and Piano – Lyrita)

The Strad, September 2016
“… The players’ traversal of Brahms’s oevre for piano trio shows them as a perfectly attuned group; both string players are mercurially alive in their phrasing and dose there usage of vibrato in a consistently unanimous manner. A column could be filled enumerating the felicities of characterisation with which these readings are replete: Brahms’s ubiquitous hemolia rhythms lilt and bounce, his ‘hunting’ scherzos gallop merrily along and soaring legato phrases sweep over the fingerboard, carried by Shaham and Wallfisch’s seductive, almost tangible sound… Erez is considerate of his partners and beautifully dovetails his thematic exchanges with them. Time stands still in the chorale-like alternations between piano and strings in the adagio of op.8…“ (Trio Shaham Erez Walfisch – Brahms Piano Trios & Double Concerto – Nimbus 2CD)

BBC Music Magazine, September 2016
“Graffin and Wallfisch give the breathlessly intense Sinfonia Concertante a rip-roaring ride.” **** (Rózsa, Cello Concerto and Sinfonia Concertante, Philippe Graffin, violin – BBC Concert Orchestra, Wordsworth cond. – Alto re-issue)

BBC Music Magazine, September 2016
“A useful collection of Wallfisch’s groundbreaking, repertoire-expanding Chandos issues. Hs reading of Finzi’s valedictory concerto won Radio 3’s Building a Library (2006). The Moeran shines too.” ***** (Cello concertos by Bax, Bliss, Finzi, Moeran, various orchestras & conductors – Chandos re-issue)

Calgary Herald, 4 July 2016
“… The remarkable cellist Raphael Wallfisch (UK)…  The three-movement work encapsulated the psychologically introspective, reflective, and speculative nature of Myaskovsky’s dark world, captured perfectly in Mr. Wallfisch’s sterling interpretation… Mr. Wallfisch made his cello throb as he made it resonate for all that Myaskovsky’s themes were worth… Certainly the Andante cantabile showed how well Mr. Wallfisch understands this music. Channeling the very geist of Rostropovich, for whom the work was originally written, Mr Wallfisch created a mellifluous flow throughout every melodic utterance. And that final Allegro con spirito third movement was a masterpiece of moto perpetuo virtuosity… On a trail of similar sentiment, Mr. Wallfisch led off his half of Thursday evening’s recital with Weinberg’s Solo Cello Sonata No.1… Mr. Wallfisch may have impressed the most with this one movement out of anything I have ever heard him play in recent years at Rolston Recital Hall. His interpretation of the second-movement Allegretto was truly original throughout in its metrical modulation feel. And for a grand finish came the splendid virtuosity and great fingerboard work of the third movement, so splendidly played that one could imagine Mr. Wallfisch making a recital of all four Weinberg solo cello works…”

Planet Hugill, 11 June 2016
“Wallfisch’s inspired, passionate performance really articulated the soul’s struggle… the results were passionately mesmerising… Wallfisch was eloquent in his account of the expressive quasi orientalisms (evoking Byzantine chant) of the solo part, with the choir providing superb contrast in the neutral, almost impassive performance… The ending, with Wallfisch’s solo getting progressively higher, whilst the choir’s ‘svyati’ got quieter was simply magical.” Robert Hugill (Spitalfields Music Festival)

Sonograma Magazine, May 2016
”Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch was founded in 2009 and is composed of three of today’s best international instrumentalists… All three musicians play very elegantly… In these performances they combine technical virtuosity and constant dialogue with imagery and a sensitive sound … The strength and sound of their dialogues break many stereotypes in the music of Brahms… This 2CD ends with the Double Concerto. Shaham and Wallfisch, accompanied by the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, create a real musical phantasy, a treasure of sound. This recording presents the concerto so beautifully, it is of irresistible inspiration.” (Trio Shaham Erez Walfisch – Brahms Piano Trios & Double Concerto – Nimbus 2CD)

The Classical Reviewer, May 2016
”… The strings of the Orchestra of the Swan drop to a hushed melody with Wallfisch adding a really subtle emotional tug when he re-enters. Both he and the orchestra find a lovely control, creating a very fine atmosphere in the hushed moments. Wallfisch brings his very fine tone, quite lovely, raising the emotional temperature before leaping straight into the concluding vibrant Con moto e marcato where the strings of the Orchestra of the Swan show their fine tone with this cellist adding some rich, often quite intense textures and blending wonderfully with the orchestra… This is a performance that reveals new aspects to Ireland’s very fine cello sonata… perfectly performed here… Wallfisch and the orchestra finding a gentle rhythmic lilt as the music pushes ahead. There is a faster central section to which these players give a directness and forward drive, showing terrific panache with crisp and finely shaped playing… This is a delightful disc of arrangements that provide some really beautiful English string gems, exquisitely played by all concerned.” (Works by John Ireland, Orchestra Of The Swan, David Curtis cond.- Naxos)

Presto Classical, May 2016
“This two-album set features British cello concertos from Raphael Wallfisch’s best late-1980s recordings. He has always worked closely with leading British composers of our time and is now regarded as the finest performer of their works for cello. As International Record Review asserted, ‘no British cellist has done more to advocate British composers than Raphael Wallfisch… [His] playing evinces that attention to detail, tonal finesse and understated conviction which has long made him an exponent of new and unfamiliar music.” (British cello concertos, various orchestras and conductors – Chandos 2CD)

Mail Online, David Mellor, 30th March 2016
”The passionate Cello Sonata, written in the Twenties, when John Ireland was in the throes of an affair with a much younger man, has been transcribed for cello and strings by Matthew Forbes, and is brilliantly dispatched by cellist Raphael Wallfisch. If you didn’t know, you could think it was originally composed as a cello concerto.” (Orchestra of the Swan, David Curtis conductor – music by John Ireland – Naxos)

Jeff Collman, 26th January 2016
”… It’s difficult to know why some performances can be singled out as something special, but when the artists have supreme greatness they exude an embracing confidence. Raphael and John had no need for flamboyant gestures or exaggerated rubati… perfectly achieved… remarkable… The mellow tones of the cello flowed through beautiful melodic lines and the ebb and flow balance with the piano was exquisite without being saccharine… However many renderings or times one had heard this work previously [ Brahms sonata no.in D], this was a moment to treasure… sublime… Beethoven’s 4th Cello Sonata opened with an Andante that in the hands of Wallfisch and York was a smooth balanced dream… The audience were spellbound…” (Cello & piano recital, John York piano – NADSA, 24 Jan 2016)

The Arts Desk, Jessica Duchen, 21 Jan 2016
Full-blooded music making from a streamlined ensemble
“… they never get in the music’s way. It flows out of them unimpeded, as if balancing a piano trio were the easiest thing in the world, which goodness knows it is not… These performers evoke musical values that today are beginning to seem “old school”, yet are as sterling solid as ever. Erez is the most self-effacing of virtuosi, delivering glitter and dazzle… his tone always singing and tanslucent. Shaham’s sound recalls the great violinists of the mid 20thcentury: rich and gorgeous, yet never sugary, his use of portamenti judiciously applied. Wallfisch’s cello seems virtually an extension of himself as he blends into vivid musical conversations or briefly takes centre stage to bowl out the big tunes… Notable qualities that leapt out of this performance included the choice of contrasting palettes… Erez’s piano tone turned utterly luminous, as if by magic.” (Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch, Wigmore Hall, 20th Jan 2016)

Seen and Heard International, Robert Beattie, 23 Jan 2016
First rate music making from the Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch
”… rich, expressive intensity… Wallfisch played with exquisite beauty of tone… The players were as one in their approach to the various shifts of mood and tempo… their thrilling rendition of the coda… Erez excelled in Rachmaninov’s swirling virtuoso passagework, ensuring the string players were never overwhelmed and the balance of sound remained excellent throughout… There was an ease and fluency in the way all three players approached the constantly evolving thematic material… I particularly enjoyed the striking double stopping of the string players and the tenderness and lyricism … a terse energy and exceptionally clear and tight articulation brought out the diabolism of the work… the performers brought a spontaneity and freshness to the music with the inventive nature of the material really shining through. Overall, this was an evening of first rate music making and the performances of the Arensky and Brahms trios were exceptionally fine. ” (Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch, Wigmore Hall, 20th Jan 2016)

The Times, January 2016
“… A fascinating theatrical hybrid embracing dance, music, song and text… Musical resources are first class … magnificently realised by the baritone David Kempster and the cellist Raphael Wallfisch.” (Raphael Wallfisch & Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House)

The Stage, January 2016
”… A polished, period tapestry of dance, music, song and text… A beautifully realised work in every respect” (Raphael Wallfisch & Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House)

The Guardian, January 2016
”Elegantly performed and intelligently crafted, this is dance theatre of quiet but passionate depth.” (Raphael Wallfisch & Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House)

theartsdesk.com, January 2016
”A royal gem…An ingenious blend of words, music and dance that beguiles and entertains in equal measure… Elizabeth is a tremendous piece from a well-chosen band of creatives at the top of their respective games.” (Raphael Wallfisch & Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House)

markronan.com, January 2016
‘Yates has put together a set of variations on works by composers active in the Elizabethan period, beautifully played on the cello by Raphael Wallfisch and sung by baritone David Kempster, along with contributions by the actors. The merging of choreography and acting, of singing and speech, creates a vehicle to get behind the veil of monarchy to the private life of Elizabeth herself… A better 90 minutes of entertainment and edification can hardly be found anywhere in London. Riveting.” (Raphael Wallfisch & Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House)

Much to Admire from Raphael Wallfisch and John York at Kings Place | Seen & Heard, 29th October 2015
”…Wallfisch’s playing was unwaveringly eloquent: the phrasing exquisitely tailored, the tone refined, the musicianship expressive and fluent… York was a discreet presence, never overpowering and at times remarkably lucid… York’s supple accompaniment figures did much to draw in the listener… much beautifully expressive and suave phrasing, particularly in the quieter passages for the cello… Wallfisch’s double-stopped melodies were gloriously rich and sonorous… Wallfisch’s crafting of the melodic arguments was wonderfully appealing… In particular, Wallfisch’s dark lower register resonated powerfully… the effortless seductiveness of Wallfisch’s tone… both performers displayed remarkable technical assurance and expressive mellifluousness… Wallfisch played beautifully.”

Strings, October 2015
”… extraordinary flights of imagination and bursts of exotic colour… Throughout the three concertos, Wallfisch is a passionate, soaringly virtuosic champion…”

Classical Ear
”Here’s a generous and typically imaginative programme from cellist Raphael Wallfisch comprising three rarely heard concertos by Hungarian emigrés in splendidly stylish and dashingly committed readings… An important revival, make no mistake, and Wallfisch lends it blisteringly fervent advocacy…”

Bangkok Post, Mayta Lerttamrab, July 2015
“The audience at the Thailand Cultural Center was in ecstasy for large parts of last Tuesday’s concert by cellist Raphael Wallfisch, conductor Martin Yates and Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. The Elgar cello concerto in particular was met with endless cheers and streams of applause. It was truly a spectacular performance that left the audience yearning for more…. Wallfisch took command right from the start of the four-movement piece. A lot of performers today tend to over-dramatise the first movement of this dramatic concerto, but there was nothing pretentious about Wallfisch’s performance. His movements and expressions were natural and that was enough to captivate everyone in the hall… The variety of rubato, phrasing and colour he was able to produce contributed to the intensity… Wallfisch’s performance brought the entire movement into another dimension as the cello sung with beautiful lamentation; haunting and seductive… Wallfisch displayed a vast array of emotions… his use of portamento was done tastefully just like the great masters of the past century. It was truly impressive… Wallfisch touched all of us.” www.bangkokpost.com

The Strad, July 2015
”No living cellist has done more to promote the British cello concerto than Raphael Wallfisch… Wallfisch plays the sonorous extended solo cello passages with a restrained eloquence… In its lament sections the solo cello is strongly personified, making brusque, speech-like statements which flow most convincingly from Wallfisch’s bow… The cello’s entry in Robert Simpson’s last orchestral work, a massive theme and variations, is impressive and life-affirming. The powerful eighth variation, using the large orchestra to the full, is stopped in its tracks by the cello’s three stark non-vibrato notes, leading to a dignified song of mourning from Wallfisch.”

Words and Music, June 2015, Rick Jones
”… Wallfisch plays with humble expression, like a defendant quietly pleading before a judge. He sits on a dais erected between the choirstalls which are packed as if by jurors… the phrases pouring from Wallfisch’s fingers with unruffled confidence… His Gavottes have a spring in their steps… simple as a folk dance… the smooth lightning speed of Wallfisch’s Bourree II. His echo effects in the Fourth are the delicate whispers of a conscience… the overall eloquence and calm persuasion of his account. The jury’s verdict is immediate: overwhelming applause.” (J.S. Bach – Unaccompanied Suites for Cello, Temple Church, London)

Birmingham Post, June 2015
“… the glowing richness of Raphael Wallfisch’s tone…” (Orchestra of the Swan, David Curtis cond.)

Catholic Herald Magazine, June 2015
”… The main work, though, was Gerald Finzi’s ambitiously grand Cello Concerto, given its full due by a soloist, Raphael Wallfisch, who has made a speciality of the piece and plays it with a sweeping, visionary magnificence it doesn’t seem to get from anybody else…” (BBC Concert Orchestra, Martin Yates cond.)

Bachtrack.com
”… Raphael Wallfisch’s very warm, smooth sound. His playing has a grounded quality and employs a pleasantly moderate vibrato… Wallfisch’s subtle rubati… Wallfisch played his part formidably… The listener could […] enjoy Wallfisch’s musical expression and his particularly pretty, well-shaped sound in the uppermost register with only a hint of vibrato…” May 2015 – Birmingham Town Hall

The Classical Reviewer
”Raphael Wallfisch brings his formidable technique and lovely tone to extract much feeling from works for cello and orchestra… Raphael Wallfisch bringing a fine emotional pull to the music… Wallfisch providing some lovely moments before the music fades away… some absolutely terrific playing from Wallfisch… a cadenza to which Wallfisch brings all his fine technique… There is some fine crisp, incisive playing… Wallfisch’s lovely tone appears, seamlessly moving from restrained to anguished…Raphael Wallfisch combined his formidable technique and lovely tone with an ability to extract so much feeling from the music.” April 2015

Calgary Herald
“Mr. Wallfisch brought the house down with a tremendous display of considerable interpretive substance… The performance was a marvellous success.”

Seenandheard-international.com
”… In Raphael Wallfisch’s hands it had a joyful charm and ease… the soloist’s multiple-string chords and rapid changes of register were negotiated effortlessly… Wallfisch’s tone was full and sweet.  The rapid passagework was nimble but also had tuneful presence… He made light work of the virtuosities… his full vibrato and strong tone firmly established a mood of indulgent melancholy… Wallfisch was again untroubled by the technical demands made of the soloist …” (Haydn Cello Concerto in C | Rossini ”Une Larme” for Cello and Orchestra – Firebird Orchestra, Jonathan Bloxham, cond.)

Daily Echo
”Raphael Wallfisch has complete mastery of this passionate and personal work, pouring forth the Allegro’s gravitas with formidable insight. Melancholic symmetry suffused the central movement, memorably yielding to emotional catharsis.” (Finzi Cello Concerto with Bouremouth Symphony Orchestra)

The Observer
“Raphael’s gloriously rich, sonorous solo lines…

The Evening Standard
“… Then came the Proms premiere, a mere 104 years after it was written, of Granville Bantock’s Sapphic Poem, for cello and orchestra. Laying out Bantock’s long, singing lines with little apparent effort, soloist Raphael Wallfisch enchanted his audience with the cello’s delightfully mournful tones.”

The Independent
”… Wallfisch’s cello leaping nimbly to unexpected notes like a mountain goat sure-footedly scaling tricky terrain…”

Gramophone
”… premiere recordings of three cello concertos of uncommon eloquence, compelling rigour and genuine staying power. Each was fashioned for (and two bear dedications to) that indefatigable champion of British music Raphael Wallfisch, whose characteristically assured and deeply felt advocacy is matched by a lively response from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under William Boughton…”

New Zealand Herald
”… The concerto can be discreet in its passions, but Wallfisch heightened them with bold accents and unexpected glissandi. Dialogue between soloist and orchestra was the order of the evening, with Wallfisch increasing fervour in the wake of Saint-Saens’s often brusque orchestral interjections.” (Saint-Saëns cello concerto no.1 with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra)

Pioneer Press
”One entrée was well worth savouring: British cellist Raphael Wallfisch proved an expert interpreter of Antal Dorati’s complex Cello Concerto.” (with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra)

International Record Review
”No British cellist has done more to advocate British composers than Raphael Wallfisch… throughout all three works, Wallfisch’s playing evinces that attention to detail, tonal finesse and understated conviction which has long made him an exponent of new and unfamiliar music…”

The Classical Reviewer
”… Superbly performed by Raphael Wallfisch and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by William Boughton”

Guardian
“Raphael Wallfisch played it as though he really believed in it …”

MusicWeb International
”… Wallfisch’s reading of the Dvořák brings Rostropovich to mind. Like Rostropovich, he has a glowing, bronzed tone, always leading the ear seductively through the solo lines…”

Financial Times
“Wallfisch was gloriously equal to its demands … his first movement became an unfolding of the most gripping, characterful, spontaneous sort”.

The Strad
“Raphael brings impressive colour and characterisation to the cello part – bold, dramatic and magically sensitive”.

Classical Iconoclast
“Raphael Wallfisch was a superlative cello soloist. Performances as brilliant as this can “make” a piece.”

Gramophone
”… the expressive range of the soloists’ playing in the central section lifts this heavenly meditation on to another level altogether…”

Gramophone Magazine
 “Wallfisch with Belohlavek is peerless among modern interpreters in the Martinu… Wallfisch’s consummate virtuosity and considerable lyrical gifts illuminate Martinu’s solo writing like no other. There have been a variety of other recordings […] but this, one of Wallfisch’s finest discs, remains the best available.”

Tiroler Landeszeitung
“Cellist Wallfisch begeisterte im 8. Sinfoniekonzert der Stadt Innsbruck, mit russischer Musik von Prokofjew und Tschaikowski glänzte der britische Cellist Raphael Wallfisch.…Er veredelte technisch makellos die Rokoko-Variationen, das Nocturne und das Pezzo Capriccioso durch seinen leuchtend klaren Ton, seine ehrliche Musikalität aus der Ruhe heraus sowie dem Verzicht, romantisierend zu schwelgen…”

The Arts Desk
“… Raphael Wallfisch’s solo playing effortlessly veers between stentorian roar and quiet whisper…”

MusicWeb International
“Raphael Wallfisch […] captures the work’s fervour and inner passions with complete conviction… Displaying complete control of Panufnik’s score cellist Raphael Wallfisch is a persuasive interpreter and plays beautifully.”

Classical Notes
”… Wallfisch produces a beautifully warm tone when needed, as well as humour, and a more angular, spiky sound… ”

MusicWeb International
”… Wallfisch eloquently narrates the peaks and troughs of the drama with consummate artistry… The effect is spellbinding… Wallfisch gives persuasive and authoritative accounts, drawing a rich burnished tone from his cello…”

MusicWeb International
”… another triumph for Raphael Wallfisch… Wallfisch’s remarkable skill – not just here but throughout his vast repertoire – is to play what has to be unfamiliar music with the certainty and conviction usually granted only through long acquaintance. The technique is rock-solid and the sound beautiful but it is this ability to project the ‘meaning’ of the works that is most remarkable.”

Penguin Guide to CD’s
”Wallfisch was the first artist to record Britten’s Cello Symphony since its dedicateé, Rostropovich. Here it is astonishing how closely Wallfisch manages to match that unique artist and there is a case for slightly preferring Wallfisch’s rather more direct approach …”

MusicWeb International
”…the playing of Raphael Wallfisch is alive to the drama of the score. He also achieves a marvellously withdrawn sense of mystery at the beginning of the final section with some riveting sotto voce delivery of the lines.. it’s really something special.”

The New Reviewer
”…there is some exquisite music-making here; the Welsh players excel in Bloch’s Voice in the Wilderness and Schelomo, underpinning Raphael’s gloriously rich, sonorous solo lines…”

Classics Today
”… this is a performance that captures its wide-ranging expression as well or better than any other…”

For more reviews, please contact the General Management

CBSO/Madaras review — a moving new work by Jonathan Dove is born

Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Rebecca Franks

Friday December 10 2021, 12.00pm, The Times

Unknown. Unnamed. Untouchable. About two thirds of the way through In Exile Jonathan Dove sets a list of 19 “un” words. They are words that dehumanise. Words attached to the nameless exile at the heart of this piece. “Unknown” floats up, wistfully. “Unnamed” falls into the depths. “Untouchable” snarls with fury. It’s a powerful sequence in a moving new piece from the British composer, commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as part of its centenary celebrations, and surely bound to have a life beyond its UK premiere.

In Exile has many strengths. Coherence is chief among them. The piece sits somewhere between a song cycle, an operatic scena and a cello concerto. One person is represented by two soloists: baritone and cello. Add to that a text drawn from eight sources — ranging from the Iranian-American writer Kaveh Bassiri’s 99 Names of Exile to an Old English text, The Wayfarer — and this substantial, 30-minute piece could be a muddle. Yet the librettist Alasdair Middleton and Dove make it work: the narrative arc, pacing and point of view all convince.

If the language is more dissonant than Dove’s fans might expect, we’re not talking Birtwistle here. It’s simply part of the piece’s unsettled mood, the undercurrent of anguish. And there’s another virtue: Dove’s storytelling instinct. He guides us through a day in an exile’s life, exploring emotions as part of character. The two soloists — a brooding Simon Keenlyside and an eloquent Raphael Wallfisch — reveal different aspects of the narrator: outer and inner voices; thoughts and feelings; intellect and instinct.

The vocal line is plain, the cello’s more elaborate, while the orchestration is a masterclass in economy. Abstract writing mixes with flashes of pictorialism. The sea is an important presence, captured in undulating strings and a certain bleakness shared with Barber’s Dover Beach. The piece builds in intensity until, over a bass drum beat and brooding lower strings, we reach a profound elegy. “What country, friends, is this?” the narrator asks. Lamenting cellos answer.

This is a story that can speak to any time or place. That was a smart move. For Wallfisch, the hinterland includes the legacy of his mother, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, whose cello playing saved her life in Auschwitz and who is the dedicatee of this piece. That’s impossible to forget when listening, yet there’s also space for the audience to bring their own experiences to the music. Gergely Madaras did a wonderful job conducting. And in the performances of Sibelius’s Finlandia and Dvorak’s New World Symphony, he turned the orchestra into an entire world.

Available on BBC Sounds