Transmission

Jewish identity links the works on this fine album by French cellist Edgar Moreau, who here celebrates his Jewish heritage. Bloch’s much-loved From Jewish Life, tender and soulful, makes a perfect opener, and Moreau gauges its spirit to perfection. Cello Concerto in C Major by Erich Wolfgang Korngold forms the album’s centre, and it receives a glowing performance, its roots in the 1946 movie Deception positively celebrated by soloist and fine Swiss orchestra alike. The soundworld is quite ravishingly lush: Bruch’s classic “Kol Nidrei” and Bloch’s Schelomo are beautifully performed before the album closes with (the non-Jewish) Ravel’s heartfelt Mélodies hébraïques, gloriously done.