Tecchler’s Cello – Guy Johnston

   in Classical Music (Nov, 2017)
This is a lovely idea: the Tecchler of the disc title is Johnston’s David Tecchler cello, which celebrated its 300th birthday in 2014. To mark this occasion, Johnston commissioned three new works (by Matthews, Simpson and Bray), which receive their recording premieres.

Himself a former chorister of King’s College, Cambridge, Johnston is joined by them in Ola Gjello’s restrained, ecstatic Serenity. The disc is presented as a journey from Cambridge to Rome (where the luthier Tecchler was based) in several chapters, interspersed with premieres. Matthews’ Ein Celloleben references Strauss, Corelli, Beethoven and Ravel; Johnston offers a stunning tour-de-force. Simpson’s Un Regalo plays brilliantly on the Tecchler’s resonance while Charlotte Bray’s dark …