Fand Catalogue

  

BAX: Works for Cello and Piano

Lionel Handy, cello & Nigel Clayton, piano

Sir Arnold Bax

This product has a total of 25 review excerpts; reload the page to see other quotations at random or take a look at all the reviews of this publication.

	Bax isn’t necessarily an easy composer to understand as a listener or performer, but this recording really brings to life the music and demonstrates that it’s repertoire that should be more widely known. Handy and Clayton together create a clear path to some really touching and affecting moments in the music.
	—Amazon review (April 2013)

	The performances are excellent. Cellist Lionel Handy plays with full, rich tone and precise rhythmic control. He avoids excessive vibrato and the kind of nasal sound that can sometimes afflict cellists in high-lying passages. Nigel Clayton negotiates the demanding piano parts with precision and spontaneity. Sound quality is excellent as well, exemplary in spaciousness, clarity, focus, and smoothness. The piano tone is firm and well defined, and the acoustic has just the right amount of reverberation.
	—Daniel Morrison, Fanfare (37:3, Jan/Feb 2014)

Bax’s Legend-Sonata, the major work featured on this disc, was written for Florence Hooton and was first performed by her in 1943. This CD was released to mark Florence Hooton’s centenary in 2012 and features her pupil, the acclaimed cellist Lionel Handy, accompanied by Nigel Clayton in a highly authoritative set of performances. Lionel is a long-serving professor at the Royal Academy of Music, teaches at the Birmingham Conservatoire and in summer schools throughout Europe, and has been guest principal with most leading UK orchestras. He writes:

The inspiration for this recording was the centenary of Florence Hooton in 2012. While studying at the Royal Academy of Music I was greatly encouraged by her dynamic teaching. Florence herself worked closely with many composers, and her rapport with Bax enabled her to pass on invaluable insights into interpreting his works.

—Lionel Handy

The CD is a particularly high-quality production: aside from its authoritative and well-recorded performances, no expense has been spared in its manufacture. It features a lavish 12-page booklet containing an essay by Lewis Foreman and a picture-disc, with full-colour printing throughout (see sample images and track samples below). A must for all Bax fans!

Sample pages

(Click to enlarge)

		Composer	Title		Performer(s)	Total duration
		Sir Arnold Bax	BAX: Works for Cello and Piano Lionel Handy, cello & Nigel Clayton, piano		Lionel Handy, ’Cello, Nigel Clayton, Piano	01:05:58
	#	Composer	Work	Movement	Performer(s)	Duration
	1	Sir Arnold Bax	Sonatina in D for cello and piano (1933)	I: Allegro risoluto	Lionel Handy, ’Cello, Nigel Clayton, Piano	00:04:54
	2			II: Andante		00:06:19
	3			III: Moderato		00:04:15
	4		Rhapsodic Ballad for solo cello (1939)		Lionel Handy, ’Cello	00:13:57
	5		Folk-Tale for cello and piano (1918)		Lionel Handy, ’Cello, Nigel Clayton, Piano	00:09:19
	6		Legend-Sonata in F♯ minor for cello and piano (1943)	I: Allegro risoluto		00:10:29
	7			II: Lento espressivo		00:08:45
	8			III: Rondo: Allegro		00:07:58

Catalogue code: SLV1007 • Published: 23rd November 2012
Entry last updated: 26th April 2014