Cellist Jan Vogler's and pianist Louis Lortie's recording of Felix Mendelssohn's two sonatas and Variations concertantes for cello and piano is a winner. Vogler has a robust tone, a vigorous technique, and a soulful way of phrasing, while Lortie is a front-rank virtuoso as well as an accompanist of amazing sensitivity. Together they turn in performances of remarkable beauty and brilliance. In the sonatas, they know how to keep things light and airy in the Scherzos, powerful and passionate in the Allegros, and sweetly lyrical in the Adagios and Andantes. In the Variations concertantes, they allow each variation its own character, but kept the work unified by hewing close to the underlying theme. And in the encore, the Lied ohne Worte in D major, Op. 109, they deliver a performance of breathless impetuosity and ravishing loveliness. Captured in warm, close digital sound, this disc should be heard by anyone who admires Mendelssohn and anyone who enjoys superb cello playing.
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