Vivaldi – Yehuda Hanani – EROICA

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Six Sonatas for Cello, Harpsichord and Continuo
Close Encounters with Music – Yehuda Hanani, Lionel Party, Miko Zaitsu

Eroica Records JDT 3035

These performances are as un-HIP (historically informed performance) as it gets — lustily played, and Yehuda Hanani’s (right) luscious, juicy tone often seems out of place in this music, but still it’s all the same lovely to the ear. None of that detache playing or frenetically-played fast movements – Hanani takes his time with everything, even with his bow strokes.

It’s clear who leads the performances here — the balance is firmly in favour of Hanani and his cello and the harpsichord (beautifully and variedly played by Lionel Party) and the continuo (Miko Zaitsu) have play second fiddle. The performances themselves are warm and enjoyable. Slow movements are languidly feline and the fast movements could do with a little more spring in their step. Occasionally the ear tires of that continually slow, legato playing and one wishes Hanani would play that bit faster, but overall this is a gorgeously played disc that bears replaying. Hanani’s playing is full of musicianship and quite intoxicating.

The works themselves are not much like the Vivaldi of the iconic Four Seasons, except that they are full of Italian verve and charm at the same time, easy on the ear and excellent for those evenings when one tires of the heavier, meatier repertoire.

http://www.eroica.com/yh-music.html
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365: 12.12.1998 Chia Han-Leon

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