The Arts Desk
Julian Lloyd Webber: The Singing Strad (Decca)
Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber’s playing career was curtailed in 2014, a herniated disc in his neck causing a loss of strength in his right arm. He’s been busy since then, heading the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire until 2020 and more recently a member of the advisory panel which recently produced the UK government’s Model Music Curriculum. This set has been released to celebrate Lloyd Webber’s 70th birthday, its three discs collecting recordings made for Philips in the 1980s and 90s. You might have dismissed him as a lightweight thanks to a series of bestselling crossover discs stuffed with miniatures, but there are some marvellous things here, the range of repertoire testament to Lloyd Webber’s versatility. A 1986 recording of the Elgar concerto directed by Yehudi Menuhin is a treat, as much for Menuhin’s sensitive conducting as for Lloyd Webber’s pure-toned playing. And Holst’s Invocation is a real find, the two works the weightiest items on a disc containing British music. The shorter items are enjoyable, notably an arrangement of the slow movement of Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto. The French disc opens with a convincing version of Saint-Sa ns’s A minor Concerto before a selection of shorter pieces, including “Le Cygne” and Faur ‘s affecting l gie. Bizet’s “Habanera as cello solo”, with added guitar, is cheesy fun, other transcriptions including Debussy’s Clair de lune and a snippet of Faur ‘s Dolly Suite. That the performances convince is as much to do with engineering as playing technique, Philips’ producers securing a consistently credible balance between soloist and orchestra.
A selection of Russian music includes the original version of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations conducted by Maxim Shostakovich, and an excellent version of the Shostakovich Cello Sonata with Lloyd Webber partnered by composer and pianist John McCabe. They’re superb in the ruminative “Largo”, and the sonata’s curt, throwaway ending is nicely done. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee as cello solo? That’s here too fluff, but spectacular. A winning compilation, released at budget price.
