Album

Swiss cellist Thomas Demenga here comes up with an unusual angle on the contemporary attempt to make the instrumental a personal statement rather than a mere demonstration of mastery: he plays a program of encores. Of course, many famed instrumental performers have released albums of encores, but there's never been one like this before. Demenga explores the concept of the encore itself, positing it as the only segment of the traditional recital in which the performer could display his or her own personality—in the words of the rather verbose notes of Anselm Cybinski, could "display the wandering minstrel who slumbers unacknowledged even in the most cerebral of musical exegetes." Thus Demenga offers examples of various types of encores. There is the virtuoso exotic encore, often coming from a composer's own ethnic tradition; these are represented here by the title work by Georgian composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze and by the Danse du diable vert of Gaspar Cassadò. There is the Romantic encore with a beautiful tune, exemplified here by works of Chopin and Fauré. There are intellectual works (Webern, late Liszt), and Bach chorales, presented here in delightful arrangements with accordion by Demenga himself. And there are pieces composed by the player—which, as Demenga points out, fell out of favor as modernism tightened its icy grip on music. Demenga's own works are great crowd-pleasers. Start your sampling with his New York Honk, the last work on the program: the cello plays an energetic figure that seems to be interrupted by city traffic noises.

Having sorted out all these strands, Demenga weaves them together once again in a program that makes sense harmonically and in terms of timing—he even varies the lengths of the pauses between tracks as he manipulates its ebb and flow. What is intended, again in Cybinski's words, is "a 'composed' continuum in which seemingly heterogeneous items coalesce, almost nonchalantly exploding ancient misgivings against suites of miniatures." The music reminds you that it's fun when it seems to be getting too serious, and it tells you to think about it when it starts to seem lightweight. It all adds up to a virtuoso performance in the best sense of the word—in the mind as well as the fingers—and one that would surely attract audiences if offered in tour in support of the recording.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
Sulkhan Tsintsadze Composer 5 Pieces on Folk Themes, for cello and piano Work Thomas Demenga Cello
1	2.Chonguri	1:22			$0.49
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Das alte Jahr vergangen ist, BWV614 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello, Teodoro Anzellotti Accordion
2	Das alte Jahr vergangen ist, BWV614	2:26			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf, BWV617 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello, Teodoro Anzellotti Accordion
3	Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf, BWV617	1:52			$0.49
Gaspar Cassadó Composer Danse du diable vert, for cello & piano Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
4	Danse du diable vert, for cello & piano	3:20			$0.99
Frédéric François Chopin Composer Nocturne in C#-, Op. posth, KKIVa/16, CT.127 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
5	Nocturne in C#-, Op. posth, KKIVa/16, CT.127 (arr. cello and piano)	4:10			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer Romance, for cello and piano, Op.69 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
6	Romance, for cello and piano, Op.69	3:55			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer Little Pieces, for cello and piano, Op.11 Work 2:18 Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
7	1.Mäßige	1:00			$0.49
8	2.Sehr bewegt	0:19			$0.49
9	3.Äußerst ruhig	0:59			$0.49
Anton Webern Composer 2 Pieces, for cello and piano Work 4:52 Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
10	1.Langsam	2:54			$0.99
11	2.Langsam	1:58			$0.49
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV639 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello, Teodoro Anzellotti Accordion
12	Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV639	3:36			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer 3 Songs, Op.7 (includes 'Après un rêve')...3 Songs, Op.7 (arr. cello and piano) Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
13	1.Après un rêve	3:00			$0.99
Frédéric François Chopin Composer 3 Nocturnes, Op.9 (includes the famous 'Nocturne in Eb')...3 Nocturnes, Op.9 (arr. cello and piano) Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
14	No.2 in Eb	5:04			$0.99
Franz Liszt Composer La lugubre gondola, S.200 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
15	1.No.1 in 6/8 (arr. cello and piano)	7:38			$1.49
Thomas Demenga Composer Eine kleine Erregung (über Berg und Bach), for cello & piano Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
16	Eine kleine Erregung (über Berg und Bach), for cello & piano	4:28			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV648 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello, Teodoro Anzellotti Accordion
17	Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV648	2:05			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer Berceuse, for violin and piano, Op.16 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
18	Berceuse, for violin and piano, Op.16 (arr. cello and piano)	3:21			$0.99
Darius Milhaud Composer Vocalise, Op.105 Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
19	Vocalise, Op.105	1:02			$0.49
Thomas Demenga Composer New York Honk, for cello & piano Work Thomas Larcher Piano, Thomas Demenga Cello
20	New York Honk, for cello & piano	2:13			$0.99