Popper & PIatigorsky

One of today's finest cellists, Wendy Warner wowed listeners with her enterprising recording of works by Hindemith on Bridge Records, her performance of Barber's Concerto on Naxos, and her album of duos with violinist Rachel Barton Pine on Cedille.

A "characterful cello soloist" (The Guardian) noted for her "sensitive, polished performances" (Fanfare), Ms. Warner turns her attention to late-Romantic works by composers who were the superstar cellists of their day, focusing her full-frequency tone and artful interpretation on works by David Popper (1843-1913) and Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976).

The new CD, with pianist Eileen Buck, features three rarely recorded works by Popper: his Three Pieces, Op. 11; Suite, Op. 69; and the charming Im Walde, Op. 50, a set of colorful pastoral scenes including the mysterious and infectious "Gnome's Dance." Piatigorsky's 14 Variations on a Paganini Theme, a favorite concert crowd-pleaser for Ms. Warner, is every bit as virtuosic for the cello as Rachmaninov's setting is for the piano.

Acclaim

"Complimenting superlative performances by Wendy Warner and Eileen Buck are the clear, warm, and beautifully detailed sonics of the recordings, so natural you can feel the presence of the performers in your living room or den. Credit producer Judith Sherman, engineer Bill Maylone, and session director James Ginsburg for a first-rate job." -Sequenza21.com

"The clement pastoral and wistful pleasures of the Popper, then, are counter-balanced by the panache and extrovert self-confidence of Piatigorsky. The warm recorded sound and terrific performances bring everything to life quite spectacularly." -MusicWeb International

Tracks

Popper's Suite for Cello and Piano, Op. 69 (27:30)
1. Allegro giojoso (10:37)
2. II. Tempo di Menuetto (6:07)
3. III. Ballade (4:47)
4. IV. Finale (5:50)

Popper's Three Pieces, Op. 11 (12:31)
5. Widmung (5:59)
6. Humoreske (2:42)
7. Mazurka (3:44)

Popper's Im Walde, Op. 50 (23:02)
8. No. 1 Eintritt (6:05)
9. No. 2 Gnomentanz (3:30)
10. No. 3 Andacht (5:25)
11. No. 4 Reigen (2:36)
12. No. 5 Herbstblume (1:58)
13. No. 6 Heimkehr (3:13)

Piatigorsky's Variations on a Paganini Theme (1946) (16:07)* 
1. Theme (0:29)
2. Variation 1 (Pablo Casals) (1:09)
3. Variation 2 (Paul Hindemith) (0:46)
4. Variation 3 (Raya Garbousova) (0:32)
5. Variation 4 (Erica Morini) (0:46)
6. Variation 5 (Felix Salmond) (1:05)
7. Variation 6 (Joseph Szigeti) (1:26)
8. Variation 7 (Yehudi Menuhin) (0:52)
9. Variation 8 (Nathan Milstein) (0:35)
10. Variation 9 (Fritz Kreisler) (1:20)
11. Variation 10 (self-portrait) (0:33)
12. Variation 11 (Gaspar Cassado) (0:57)
13. Variation 12 (Mischa Elman) (1:37)
14. Variation 13 (Ennio Bolognini) (1:19)
15. Variation 14 (Jascha Heifetz) (0:59)
16. Tempo di Marcia (Vladimir Horowitz) (1:35)