A family endeavour of a forgotten American proves winning
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS
The Strad Issue: September 2026
Description: A family endeavour of a forgotten American proves winning
Musicians: Julian Schwarz (cello) Marika Bournaki (piano) Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra/Gerard Schwarz
Works: Foote: Complete Cello Works: Cello Concerto op.33; Three Pieces op.1; Aubade op.77; Scherzo op.22; Cello Sonata op.78
Catalogue number: DELOS DE3619
Few will have Arthur Foote (1853–1937) on their musical radar, but there are some welcome surprises here. Part of the so-called Boston Six, Foote was the only one among them to have been trained purely in his native country. But his turn of the 19th-century Romantic invention, which has plenty of fine melodies and sharply defined material, nods to the powerhouses of European composition, not least Schumann. As part of a long-standing project, this album is the fruition of Julian Schwarz’s fascination with Foote, presenting shimmering salon pieces, perfumed with French timbres, alongside the more highly developed Cello Sonata. The first commercial recording of the Cello Concerto was a labour of both love and determination for Schwarz, involving piecing together the sources of orchestral parts in a forensic fashion. The result of his endeavours is that we now have both a reconstructed score and a beautifully engineered recording of this work.
As to the music, Foote’s concerto, composed around the same time as Dvořák’s Cello Concerto and Victor Herbert’s Second, offers eloquent solo writing, with high levels of virtuosity, including octaves, rapid string crossing and double stops. Inevitably, it’s not on a par with Dvořák or Herbert, but after almost a century of neglect, this work is back in circulation. Both Julian and his father Gerard Schwarz offer a finely energised and virtuosic rendition, and there are expressive performances of the salon pieces and sonata, sensitively supported by Julian’s wife, pianist Marika Bournaki.
JOANNE TALBOT
No comments yet