Review of Bion Tsang's latest CD
The Gathering Note Seattle, WA April 10, 2010
Recording round up
Bion Tsang and Anton Nel, two of the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s regular festival musicians, are out with a recording of Johannes Brahms’ two cello sonatas (Artek, AR-0051-2). The performances are idiomatic and warm. The recording, taken from live performances in Jorban Hall at the New England Conservatory, is a touch distant, especially Nel’s piano. The highlight of Nel and Tsang’s release aren’t the two cello sonatas, but Tsang’s arrangement of four Hungarian Dances for cello and piano. Tsang worked from Joseph Joachim’s arrangement of dances one, two, four, and five for violin and piano for his own arrangement for cello and piano. Played on cello, the dances sound earthy, robust and are a welcome new look at this familiar repertory.
By Zach Cartensen.