Album

With a list of impressive orchestral credentials as lengthy as cellist Susanne Beer, one might expect great things of standard repertoire works for cello and piano. At the very least, Beer's extensive background as an orchestral cellist would seem to all but guarantee a technically proficient and well-in tune performance. Imagine the shock, then, of hearing her shockingly weak performance of Stravinsky's Suite Italienne, one of many arrangements of "Pulcinella" the composer made. Intonation ranges from adequate to poor, and sound quality is forced and brutal, and the balance between piano and cello is sub-par. The situation slightly improves with the Debussy sonata. Here, Beer's sound quality is much improved over the Stravinsky. Intonation is also closer to what might be expected, though far from flawless. Balance issues with the piano remain, however, and Beer's lower register is often buried. The dense piano scoring of Brahms' Second Cello Sonata makes these balance issues even more insurmountable. The overall impression for the album is one of haste, lack of refinement, sufficient rehearsal time, and attention to detail resulting in a startlingly amateurish disc.

© Mike D. Brownell, Rovi

CD 1
Igor Stravinsky Composer Suite italienne (after Pulcinella), for cello and piano (arr. with G.Piatigorsky) Work 18:26 Susanne Beer Cello, Gareth Hancock Piano
1	1.Introduzione	2:26			$0.99
2	2.Serenata	3:33			$0.99
3	3.Aria: Allegro alla breve. Largo	6:02			$0.99
4	4.Tarantella	1:18			$0.99
5	5.Minuetto e finale	5:07			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Cello Sonata in D-, L.135 Work 11:45 Susanne Beer Cello, Gareth Hancock Piano
6	1.Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto	4:39			$0.99
7	2.Sérénade: Modèrèment animé	3:19			$0.99
8	3.Finale: Animé	3:47			$0.99
Johannes Brahms Composer Cello Sonata No.2 in F, Op.99 Work 28:17 Susanne Beer Cello, Gareth Hancock Piano
9	1.Allegro vivace	9:23			$0.99
10	2.Adagio affettuoso	7:34			$0.99
11	3.Allegro appassionato	6:35			$0.99
12	4.Allegro molto	4:45			$0.99
Ennio Morricone Composer Gabriel's Oboe, theme from the film 'The Mission' Work Susanne Beer Cello, Gareth Hancock Piano
13	Gabriel's Oboe, theme from the film 'The Mission'	2:36			$0.99