I am happy to introduce new American Record Guide review of my recent album.
J. B. Breval, Six cello sonatas.
Fedor Amosov, cello; Alexey Kurbatov, piano.
Centaur 3195, 61 minutes.
Jean-Baptiste Breval (1753-1823) was a Paris
cello virtuoso and a prolific composer in various
genres. His name is familiar to me, so I was
amazed to discover that I have only two pieces
by him, cello sonatas, one from this opus
played by Daniel Shafran and one in C played
by Simca Heled. On looking him up in the ARG (American Record Guide)
index I don't find him at all. I finally found
more of him in my collection of sheet music
xeroxed in the Paris Conservatoire library
manyyears ago.
Amosov has done us a service in recording
these attractive pieces. He tells us that they
were written originally with basso continuo
lines, and he has arranged them for piano.
They are thoroughly convincing this way. They
should be, since they were written in the middle
of the classical era when the piano was in
and the harpsichord was fast disappearing.
They are virtuoso pieces in three movements
with a good deal of variety and make very
pleasant listening, especially handled with the
kind of effortless brilliance shown by Amosov.
As a Russian cellist, he doesn't go for the nonvibrato
technique but he is obviously having
such fun that he disarms criticism from the
early-music standpoint.
These sonatas are also written for violin.
There's actually a lot more Breval waiting for
our attention. I'm glad to start here. My sheet
music collection contains six duos for two cellos.
Come on over, Mr. Amosov!
D. MOORE