It was time for Joachim Eijlander to explore more of the Cello Solo repertoire after launching two successful Bach albums. This time he found his way through a series of Italian Capriccio’s by Joseph Dall’Abaco and Alfredo Piatti.

The Sequentia or ‘sequence’ lies at the heart of this recording. Listen carefully to the caprices of these two composers, and you will often hear that the building blocks of the music consist of sequences in couplets: themes or material introduced and then repeated, and into which the performer can throw subtle variations if the sequence invites such exploration. There are other associations that can be drawn from this title. Fairly or not, sets of caprices such as these are rarely performed in their entirety during concerts, so their use as a ‘sequel’ to other music is an important consideration. These solo cello works also form a sequel to Joachim Eijlander’s previous recordings of J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites on Navis Classics NC15003 and NC15007, both in the chronology of their production and that of their composers.

The music of Alfredo Piatti, known as a virtuoso cellist from the 19th century, has been on the menu of cellists for centuries. Joseph Dall’Abaco, son of Evaristo Dall’Abaco, was born in Brussels but his works are definitely related to the Italian way of writing.

Important notice; where Dall’Abaco had his roots in the Baroque era, Piatti can certainly be linked to the Romantic period. You can say that Joachim followed the path of this style of writing throughout two centuries.

For this recording we chose to record in the small hall of de Doelen in Rotterdam. Where as the Doopsgezinde Kerk Haarlem was perfect for Bach, we thought of a different venue for these Capriccio’s. Rotterdam turned out to be the best option since the instrument itself is more in the center of

attention and less covered in the acoustics of a rather large church. This music is truly about the cello and almost all possible sounds that you can make on a cello are present on this album. You are on front row so to say!

I recorded Joachim in DSD 256 using the Horus by Merging Technologies. The microphone setup is simple and logical. A pair of omni’s as main pair, supported by a small pair of semi cardioïds to blend in more detail. For a nice decay I used a wide pair of omni’s in the hall. Very simple but effective and pure.

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The Winterreise project with international soloists Dimitris Tiliakos and Vassilis Varvaresos is a typical example of a Navis Classics production. Dimitris sings in nearly all major opera houses in Europe but has a deep passion for Schuberts lieder. Vassilis is not only a brilliant soloist but also a composer and chamber music lover. They met at a festival in Greece and found out that they shared a wish to perform the Winterreise cycle so they did. After very successful concerts in Athens and Paris the idea came to record the cycle and I was directly interested to release it on the label. The result is, well… let’s not talk too much about the music but I invite you to listen and judge it yourself. By the way, you will be listening to the first Winterreise that was recorded in DSD256.

He points out that the principle of Eros-Thanatos (Love and Death) is one of the main themes of all Greek tragedy’s. We often talk about Life and Death but isn’t Love and Death exactly what the Winterreise is about?

van Aalst

In the booklet, Dimitris makes an interesting link to the ancient Greek history. Dimitris and Vassilis are both Greek and however this is not a Greek version of the Winterreise so to say, there is an intersting connection. He points out that the principle of Eros-Thanatos (Love and Death) is one of the main themes of all Greek tragedy’s. We often talk about Life and Death but isn’t Love and Death exactly what the Winterreise is about? It struck me.

From the recording point of view the setup was very simple. Using stereo (A-B) technique and center and surround microphones for the Multichannel version I had already the main ingredient for the recording. I added two stereo pairs for both Dimitris and Vassilis just to get that little extra crisp to the sound. There are hardly any edits in the material so you can see this as a more or less live recital in your living room. This was also the way we worked. We used five days in a row but spent only a couple of hours per day for the recording. In this short time we recorded for each song a couple of very focussed takes and afterwards chose the best one.

Enjoy!

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