Bis Kids

Bis Kids

Children's Cello Double 5 star review, BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Disc of the Month, Classic FM Magazine In this recital of known and unknown gems from the repertoire for aspiring cellists, Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough make full use of their consummate musicianship in carving each of the 30 tracks into beautiful miniatures. Pieces that cello students have played – and their teachers (not to mention parents) have heard – over and over again stand out as fresh as if they were composed for this occasion. The programme ranges progressively from Ludwig Lebell's Berceuse, which only employs open strings, to Cassadó's Requiebros, described in Isserlis's own liner notes as 'something holding real challenges for the young cellist (and indeed for the fast-aging one!)'. It's not only the level of technical difficulties that varies: the styles are almost as many as the pieces themselves. A number of different idioms – English, French, Hungarian and Israeli, Victorian, Baroque and contemporary – are all conveyed in accents that ring completely true. This unique disc was inspired by after-dinner serenades at Steven Isserlis's home, where his son Gabriel would perform his current cello assignments, sometimes accompanied by Hough. (Gabriel's contribution to the enterprise is attested to by the final section on the disc, Gabriel's Corner, made up of works composed for him by, among others, Isserlis and Hough themselves.) Isserlis writes: 'Eventually, we decided that we wanted to play some of the pieces ourselves, for our own sakes as much as for those of the children we were hoping to inspire – and thus this album was born.' The performers' enjoyment certainly shines through during the full 81 minutes of the disc – an enjoyment that will be shared by every listener, whatever his or her connection to the noble art of cello playing. A bonus, in the form of actor Simon Callow narrating a ghost story with a twist over the sound effects of Steven Isserlis's The Haunted House, makes the disc a truly special experience. Tracks Cast Ludwig Lebell 01 Berceuse Orientale 1'47 $ 0.00 EUR Sheila Nelson 02 Mad as a Hatter 0'33 $ 0.00 EUR Alfred Earnshaw 03 Tarantella 1'22 $ 0.00 EUR Joachim Stutchewsky 04 Kinnereth (tune by Haninah Karchevsky) 2'22 $ 0.00 EUR Joachim Stutchewsky 05 Wanderer's Song (Oriental Melody) 2'36 $ 0.00 EUR Adam Carse 06 A Merry Dance 1'47 $ 0.00 EUR Francis Purcell Warren 07 A Sunday Evening in Autumn 2'22 $ 0.00 EUR Francis Purcell Warren 08 Cradle Song 1'09 $ 0.00 EUR John Graves 09 The Swans glide on the Bishop's Palace moat 1'51 $ 0.00 EUR William Henry Squire 10 Danse Rustique 2'41 $ 0.00 EUR Luigi Boccherini 11 Minuet (arr. Goltermann) 3'43 $ 0.00 EUR Gavin Bryars 12 With Miriam by the River 3'30 $ 0.00 EUR Arnold Trowell 13 Gavotte from 12 Easy Pieces 1'48 $ 0.00 EUR Jean Sibelius 14 Lulu Waltz 0'48 $ 0.00 EUR George Dyson 15 Melody 2'38 $ 0.00 EUR Frank Bridge 16 Spring Song 2'24 $ 0.00 EUR Amy Beach 17 Berceuse 3'06 $ 0.00 EUR Gabriel Prosper Marie 18 La Cinquantaine 3'30 $ 0.00 EUR Georg Goltermann 19 La Foi 3'33 $ 0.00 EUR Francis Poulenc 20 Serenade (arr. Maurice Gendron) 1'55 $ 0.00 EUR Joseph Tuby 21 Serenade 2'31 $ 0.00 EUR Gabriel Fauré 22 Berceuse 3'47 $ 0.00 EUR David Popper 23 Gavotte, Op. 23 4'39 $ 0.00 EUR Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy 24 Song Without Words, Op. 109 4'39 $ 0.00 EUR Gaspar Cassadó 25 Requiebros 4'52 $ 0.00 EUR Howard Blake 26 Archangel's Lullaby 1'31 $ 0.00 EUR Olli Mustonen 27 Frogs Dancing on Water-Lilies 3'07 $ 0.00 EUR Stephen Hough 28 Angelic Song 2'12 $ 0.00 EUR Stephen Hough 29 Angelic Dance 1'29 $ 0.00 EUR Steven Isserlis 30 The Haunted House 4'03 $ 0.00 EUR Album total 81'15 Cello Isserlis, Steven Piano Hough, Stephen Composer Beach, Amy Blake, Howard Boccherini, Luigi Bridge, Frank Bryars, Gavin Carse, Adam Cassadó, Gaspar Dyson, George Earnshaw, Alfred Fauré, Gabriel Goltermann, Georg Graves, John Hough, Stephen Isserlis, Steven Lebell, Ludwig Marie, Gabriel Prosper Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix Mustonen, Olli Nelson, Sheila Popper, David Poulenc, Francis Sibelius, Jean Squire, William Henry Stutchewsky, Joachim Trowell, Arnold Tuby, Joseph Warren, Francis Purcell Narrator Callow, Simon

Bis Kids

Source: https://bis.se/performers/isserlis-steven/childrens-cello