Haydn: Cello Concertos; Edison Denissov: Tod ist ein langer Schlaf (2004)

Cellist Peter Bruns sure is a happy looking fellow on the front cover of his Hänssler Classics disc Joseph Haydn: Cello Concertos. By right he should be, as this is as fine and persuasive a rendering of these two well-worn and familiar cello concerti, only known to us since about 1960 but so far ingrained into the repertoire by now that it is as if they have belonged to us forever. Thus Bruns has the unenviable task of making these works his own in the face of recordings by Rostropovich, du Pré, Starker, and other past ... Read More

Cellist Peter Bruns sure is a happy looking fellow on the front cover of his Hänssler Classics disc Joseph Haydn: Cello Concertos. By right he should be, as this is as fine and persuasive a rendering of these two well-worn and familiar cello concerti, only known to us since about 1960 but so far ingrained into the repertoire by now that it is as if they have belonged to us forever. Thus Bruns has the unenviable task of making these works his own in the face of recordings by Rostropovich, du Pré, Starker, and other past masters who have already been there. However, Peter Bruns isn't quite an ingénue; he is a cellist in the magnificent period orchestra Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin, a group known for interpreting Baroque music with a sense of excitement, verve, and brio, and Bruns successfully transfers this energy to Haydn's two cello concerti with relative ease and fuss. Bruns also leads the Mendelssohn Kammerorchester Leipzig in addition to serving as star soloist, with results that work well -- as... Read Less