Dvorak: Cello Concerto / Rondo in G minor / From the Bohemian Forest

"Having both one's parents in the orchestra with whom one is collaborating as soloist must at very least tweak the emotional stakes of the performance in hand. Such is the case with cellist Raphaël Jouan, who grew up listening to and knowing many of the musicians of the Orchestre National de Metz Grand Est in the city where he came of age. So I'm sure it isn't my imagination that the defining quality of this performance of the great Dvořák Cello Concerto is one of collective warmth and familiarity. It feels personal.

Soloist Jouan and conductor David Reiland are of one mind and sensibility here. When the solo horn introduces the tender second theme of the concerto in the long orchestral introduction it is gifted all the room in the world in which to breath life into the melody. That generosity is echoed by Jouan when he takes it up for himself later in the movement's unfolding. The quality of his performance is defined by an absence of grandstanding in favour of a very real and humble affinity with the music. He finds every opportunity to exploit what I would call the legato primacy, the songfulness, of the writing and the passagework - the virtuosic fireworks, if you like - is articulate and purposeful as opposed to flashy. It isn't the grandest and showiest performance in what is a very distinguished field (Jouan never gets weighed down by the performance history of the piece) but rather homespun in the best sense. There's a relish about all the playing here, not just Jouan's, a mutual acknowledgement of the work's gorgeousness." Gramophone Editor's Choice & Bookmark recording

"Technically it is flawless, the orchestra offering an impressive partnership. Yet the overall impact is curiously detached." BBC Music