Three classical albums we're loving this month

J.S. Bach: Trios by Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer (available 7 April)

For many people, the name Yo-Yo Ma immediately brings to mind the Bach Cello Suites and Ma’s bestselling album; the album that has defined many a young cellist’s ideas about the performance of the works. However, many discerning listeners also think ‘innovation’ when they hear or see his name, given the many different styles in which he performs and records on a regular basis. What I love about his new recording is this blend of traditional classical repertoire with a good dash of contemporary reimagining.

When Bach lived in Germany (1685–1750) it was normal and considered the highest form of flattery if someone took your idea and did something new and interesting with it. Bach himself borrowed heavily from his contemporaries, particularly for many of his teaching works, as can be seen in the ‘Anna Magdalena notebook’ written to help his wife learn keyboard.

Rejoining Ma are two of his frequent collaborators: Edgar Meyer on double bass and Chris Thile on mandolin. This trio has taken a number of Bach’s keyboard works and one lovely viola de gamba sonata to create a new Bach sound. It is apparent from the outset that not only are all three modern musicians at the top of their game, but that they work together seamlessly as a trio. Ma, Meyer and Thile each take an individual strand of melody from these complex works and interweave new tonal ideas.

Bach’s music can often be bogged down in a heavy polyphonic style of composition in which many voices are all trying to have their own say simultaneously. This can sound, to the untrained ear, like a bit of a mess of noise and notes. But in these recordings, with the lightness of the mandolin and both the string players’ gentle delight in the brightness of the melodies, each piece burbles along like a stream of music from some sort of Baroque heaven.

Kate Rockstrom


Henriette: The Princess of the Viol by Maddelena Del Gobbo

Princess Anne Henriette of France (1727–1752), daughter of King Louis XV, was a passionate musician and skilled gambist. Her life was short (she died of smallpox aged only 24), but her legacy was great. Jean-Baptiste Forqueray dedicated his virtuosic ‘Pièces de viole’ to the young princess, and Louis de Caix d’Hervelois similarly dedicated his fifth book of viol pieces to her. Young Italian gambist Maddalena del Gobbo has attempted to recreate Henriette’s musical world at the Palace of Versailles in Henriette: The Princess of the Viol – del Gobbo’s debut recording with Deutsche Grammophon.

Already I have listened to this CD perhaps 15 times. It is exceptional, and an early favourite for 2017. Del Gobbo is a wonderful gambist, and she elicits a generous array of delicious sounds from her instrument. Case in point is the jubilant third movement (‘La Muzette’) of Marin Marais’s Suite in G major, elegantly performed by del Gobbo. In contrast, d’Hervelois’s ‘Plainte’ is at once luscious, heartbreaking and lassitudinous. Del Gobbo’s accompanying band of gamba, theorbo and harpsichord plays equally superbly with unity and lightness of touch. If, like me, you’re a Jordi Savall fan, you will delight in del Gobbo’s moving tribute to Princess Henriette.

Alexandra Mathew


The Spirit And The Maiden by Muses Trio

Australia’s Muses Trio is unique among chamber music ensembles. Consisting of a fabulous all-female line-up – Therese Milanovic (piano), Christa Powell (violin), and Louise King (cello) – the trio’s prime purpose is to explore, share and promote music composed by women. ‘The notion that there is no worthwhile music composed by women’, they state, ‘was to us simply ridiculous’. While few openly deride or discount the music of female composers, their lack of representation in the classical music scene suggests that their work is of little value. The Muses Trio, with their debut CD The Spirit and the Maiden, hopes to redress the balance.

Unsurprisingly, I was unfamiliar with many of the compositions presented here. The opening ‘The Spirit and the Maiden’ (from which the album takes its name) by Elena Kats-Chernin is a highlight. Infused with Kats-Chernin’s signature energy and style, the trio delivers a fine reading of the score. On the whole, this is an enjoyable recording, and it is a wonderful tribute to the veritable wealth of classical music composed by women.

Alexandra Mathew

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Cover image for Henriette: The Princess Of The Viol

Henriette: The Princess Of The Viol

Maddalena Del Gobbo

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