Description
Inbal Segev, together with Marin Alsop and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, performs Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto alongside the world-premiere recording of DANCE by English composer Anna Clyne, a work commissioned by Inbal.
This formidable release features Inbal Segev performing Elgar's emotive Cello Concerto coupled with DANCE, an inspiring new work by Grammy-nominated English composer Anna Clyne that was commissioned by Inbal. On this powerful recording, Marin Alsop conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Marin introduced Inbal to Anna, sparking a special synergy between the three women. While Anna was composing DANCE, a five-movement concerto inspired by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, further connections ensued. Anna's soulful and vibrant music combines cultures that include her Irish-English family, Polish-Jewish ancestry and Inbal's Israeli-American heritage. Inbal expounds, "Anna's music has an old-soul sensibility but is fresh and modern at the same time. This juxtaposition of old and new has always appealed to me; it suits my playing, as well as the tone of my 1673 Ruggieri cello."
Inbal's idea to record Anna Clyne's DANCE alongside Elgar's Cello Concerto is timely: the two works were composed exactly 100 years apart. Inbal enthuses, "It is so rewarding to record and perform the work of a contemporary female composer whose music withstands comparison with Elgar's. The two pieces share a certain sensibility – a romanticism, warmth and humanity – that transcends any stylistic differences."
Elgar's Cello Concerto, written in the wake of World War I, is deeply reflective. Anna Clyne's DANCE is optimistic and forward-looking. Inbal's recording of these two cello concertos is timeless.
Scala Radio's Album of the Week; featured on BBC Radio 3's Record Review
Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice, August 2020
"in the final movement of Anna Clyne's DANCE, a cello concerto in all but name, a bear-hug of a theme emerges through angry, percussive col legno snaps that is so beautiful, so heartfelt that it instantly drew tears on first hearing. Repeated listening had a similar effect … [Segev] plays it here with dark tone and deep insight … the Elgar makes for a perfect partner on this disc. And what a performance! … Fans of the Elgar Concerto need to hear this disc, but Clyne's DANCE should make many friends too." - Gramophone
"Dance is the most impressive piece by Clyne that I've heard, and it's an achievement for any new cello work to overshadow Elgar's concerto, with which it's paired here. That's partly because of the intensity of every musical idea in Clyne's work, all vividly projected by Segev." - 4 Stars, The Guardian
Anna's DANCE is a "thrilling discovery." "What a brilliantly ambitious pairing." - BBC Muic Magazine