Classic [Bonus Track] [B&N Exclusive]

by Stjepan Hauser

Overview

The mononymous Hauser is cellist Stjepan Hauser, one half of the wildly successful crossover duo 2Cellos. The other half, Luka Sulic, made his solo debut in 2019, shortly before the release of Hauser's album, with an album devoted to transcriptions of Vivaldi's Four Seasons violin concertos. With Classic, as promised by the title, Hauser also moves in the direction of classical repertory as compared with the albums of 2Cellos, which are mostly devoted to cello arrangements of Michael Jackson, AC/DC, and the like. Even the crossover items here, by pianist Yiruma and songwriter Lucio Dalla (Caruso), would likely land in the classical bins. The rest consists of famous classical tunes, arranged for cello, including a lot of Mozart. Yet in a way, Hauser is closer to the 2Cellos sound than his partner, who delivered a tweaked but recognizable Four Seasons. Although the album was recorded in London's venerable Henry Wood Hall, producer Nick Patrick mashes the sound down and removes the dynamics and any trace of an edge; even when the orchestra is replaced with piano accompaniment, the sound is so diffuse that you hardly notice. The advantage of this is listeners wanting a mellow, relaxing sound will get exactly what they want, with Hauser's warm cello going down very easily. A further positive is that the Barber Adagio for strings, in an effective cello-and-orchestra arrangement, makes a strong conclusion. The downside is that the overall mood has very little contrast or variety. It's safe to say that 2Cellos fans in the main will enjoy this, but it will be interesting to see whether the styles of the two principals continue to diverge. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/2020
Label:	Sony Classical
UPC:	0194397927818

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Swan Lake~Swan Lake
2. 2nd Piano Concerto~2nd Movement
3. Caruso
4. Orchestral Suite No. 3~Air on a G String
5. The Nutcracker Suite [Ballet]~Pas de deux
6. Concerto for Clarinet~2nd Movement
7. Nocturne in C Sharp
8. Cavalleria Rusticana~Intermezzo

Disc 2

9. River Flows in You
10. Rinaldo~Lascia Ch' io Pianga
11. The Lonely Shepherd
12. Piano Concerto No. 21~2nd Movment
13. Nocturne
14. Turandot~Nessun Dorma
15. Requiem~Lacrimosa
16. Adagio for Strings
17. The Swan

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Stjepan Hauser   Primary Artist,Cello
London Symphony Orchestra   Orchestra
Robert Ziegler   Conductor
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra   Orchestra
Elisabeth Fuchs   Conductor

Technical Credits

James Last   Composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   Composer
Simon Rhodes   Engineer
Frederic Chopin   Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach   Composer
Lucio Dalla   Composer
Robin Smith   Arranger
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky   Composer
Nick Patrick   Producer
Sergey Rachmaninov   Composer
Samuel Barber   Composer
Julian Wright   Management
Camille Saint-Saens   Composer
Pietro Mascagni   Composer
Alexander Borodin   Composer
George Frederick Handel   Composer
Giacomo Puccini   Composer
Neil Hutchinson   Engineer
Yiruma   Composer
Miro Vidovic   Mixing,Engineer
Roger Rich   Photography
Neil Myungwon Seo   Logotype,Package Design