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| Brahms Double Concerto with Lisa Batiashvili, Sir Neville Marriner and Baltimore Symphony |
| “...Things then moved up to a larger scale for the Double Concerto by Brahms, but the intimacy established in the Mozart performance continued. This was in large measure due to the soloists, who could not have been much more tightly bonded and who made the piece as personal and revealing as a conversation between lovers. Violinist Elisabeth Batiashvili offered a gently gleaming, yet potent, tone that meshed sweetly with Alban Gerhardt's refined cello. This aural quality alone gave their efforts a certain glow, complemented by admirable technical assurance. These players, who have collaborated before on this concerto, clearly know their way around its darkly beautiful hills and valleys. They understand the way Brahms almost humanizes the two instruments, creating the effect of one person finishing the thoughts of the other because the wave-lengths are so similar, so intertwined. The background of the composition - Brahms hoped to use it to patch up his severely damaged friendship with violinist Joseph Joachim - usually is confined to the pages of program notes. Here, you could easily imagine the hurt, the gradual coming to terms, the reaffirmation of old bonds. That wasn't just music up there on the stage, but a slice of truth. Marriner gave the compelling young soloists attentive backing. Aside from a rough start to the second movement and a few indecorous splats in the brass, the BSO filled in the rest of the concerto's details with considerable expressive force...” |
| Tim Smith, May 18, 2002 |
| “Cellist soars, despite an injured hand - That he was able to play so beautifully seemed little less than a miracle… |
| Gerhardt has a beautiful tone that ranges from a full-throated fortissimo to the merest whisper of a pianissimo…The astonishing Kodaly Sonata was played astonishingly well...[The cellist has to] convince the audience that his instrument is equal to an orchestra. With his sense of color, his wide variety of bow strokes and his unflagging energy, Gerhardt was able to do all this...and concluded the recital with a splendidly nostalgic and passionate reading of the Brahms e minor Sonata.” |
| Steven Wigler, November 1, 1993 |
