Label: Sony Classical
Release date: 4/1/2009
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich: Waltz
Jimi Hendrix: Machine Gun (arr. for cello and orchestra by Kyle Sanna)
The Knights, Eric Jacobsen
“We remember cellist Jan Vogler from his collaboration with Louis Lortie a number of years ago in the Beethoven ‘marathon’ in Montreal. We rediscover him with the New York ensemble, ‘The Knights’ a very contemporary chamber ensemble, as comfortable performing serious music, both historical and contemporary, as they are with jazz and world music. If the various Shostakovich waltzes included in the program (and yes, the famous waltz no. 2 from the Jazz Suite no. 2 is there!) are very appealing, the major attraction of this recording lies in two, at first glance, quite different works, but which finally are less disparate than it appears at first: Shostakovich’s First Cello Concert and Machine Gun by Jimi Hendrix. Vogler literally exposes the concerto with the passionate support of The Knights, and roars through the Hendrix piece, transforming his cello into a Stratocaster. Recorded at the Poisson Rouge in New York, a kind of hot neo-cabaret that has an eclectic and sophisticated program, often ‘tripative.'” – Scena Classicale