The lode of British chamber music that was swept aside during the modernist diktat continues to yield worthwhile material, and veteran cellist
Lionel Handy
and pianist
Jennifer Hughes
have found a couple albums' worth of gems. Their first release consisted entirely of works by women, and things start off in the same vein with the
Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 5
, of
Ethel Smyth
. It is a warm, rich work that shows the influence of
Smyth
's German training, and it would stand up well on a program of
Brahms
chamber music. The performance by
Handy
and
Hughes
is idiomatic. They are especially effective in the other standout work here,
Britten
's
Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 65
, composed for
Mstislav Rostropovich
in 1961. It is a virtuoso work for the cellist, with a lightly Russian flavor, but also for the duo; the relationship between the cellist and the pianist is constantly shifting in unexpected ways, and
are right on top of it. The uninterrupted flow of the single-movement
Delius
Cello Sonata
is also confidently handled. The
Sonata
is not well known, but still more obscure is the 1951
Cello Sonata in E minor, Op. 132
Armstrong Gibbs
.
Gibbs
was better known for big public-facing choral works, but this sonata, a bit episodic, is full of memorable tunes. This is an enjoyable album that will fill holes on many shelves or hard drives devoted to British music. ~ James Manheim