Catalogue

Summary:

“… at the same time as concentrating purely on the issue of virtuosity and works written for the cello by cellists, he manages to maintain a thoughtful elegance and unfussy control that brings out the innate beauty of the music at the same time as displaying the multifarious elements of his own artistry” – Caroline Gill, Gramophone

“For string players, the sheer technical ingenuity on display here is amazing. The mind strains to figure out by what sleights of hand Antonio Meneses’s fingers and bow can be doing so many different things at the same time in these quietly fiendish, richly polyphonic miniatures…” ★★★★ – Helen Wallace, BBC Music magazine 

“… Meneses now offers the most persuasive fusion of technique and poetry in the formidable Caprices.” – Jonathan Woolf, MusicWebInternational.com 

“… The hugely pyrotechnical work by Piatti [Capriccio on the tragic opera Niobe of Giovanni Pacini, Op. 21] divides itself into an introduction, coloratura arias, duets, parlando recitatives, and finale, whose spiccati prove awesome enough to justify the price of admission…” ★★★★ – Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition

Cello virtuosity reigns on Capriccioso, the new album by Grammy-nomiated Antonio Meneses, one of today’s most esteemed cellists. He harkens back to his predecessors – a quartet of European cellists who composed dazzling works for their own instrument. At the heart of the album are 12 Caprices by 19^th century Italian cellist Carlo Alfredo Piatti, as well as his Capriccio sopra un tema della Niobe Di Pacini (Caprice on a Theme from Pacini’s “Niobe”. Antonio adds the Bohemian-born David Popper’s Etude No. 29, and bookeneds the album with etudes by the French brothers Jean-Louis and Jean-Pierre Duport.

Tracklist:

JEAN-LOUIS DUPORT (1749–1819)
1. Etude No. 7, Allegro (2.04)

CARLO ALFREDO PIATTI (1822–1901)
12 Caprices, Op. 24 (46.44)
2. No. 1. Allegro quasi presto (1.51)
3. No. 2. Andante religioso (6.39)
4. No. 3. Moderato (2.59)
5. No. 4. Allegretto (5.10)
6. No. 5. Allegro comodo (3.37)
7. No. 6. Adagio largamente (4.35)
8. No. 7. Maestoso (4.17)
9. No. 8. Moderato ma energico (3.25)
10. No. 9. Allegro (1.58)
11. No. 10. Allegro deciso (3.54)
12. No. 11. Adagio – Allegro (3.41)
13. No. 12. Allegretto capriccioso (4.38)

DAVID POPPER (1843–1914)
14. Etude No. 29 (2.56)

CARLO ALFREDO PIATTI
15. Capriccio sopra un tema della Niobe Di Pacini Op.22 (11.05)

JEAN-LOUIS DUPORT
16. Etude No. 8, Adagio cantabile (5.25)

Total duration: 68.46

Recorded: 24–26 June 2014, St Peter’s Evercreech, Somerset.
Produced by Simon Fox-Gál