#220 The Smell of Clove

It smells of distance and adventure. Very bold, melodic, alive. It's a ship, full of spice, yet maneuvering like a frigate.

Capuçon is building great waves of melodic lines–urgent, calling, restless. Wonderful sound.

Composer: Victor Herbert
Work: Cello Concerto No 2, I. Allegro impetuoso
Recording: Gautier Capuçon, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi

#155 The Smell of Sewer

Go weak at the knees. Be a puppet, let the music swing you. Enjoy the moment where cello pretends it's a jazzy bass. Subject to the rhythms.

It's a dance that does not require any progression. And it smells wet and dirty. Gutter on your shoes squelches when you're dancing on a street, under the only street light that's still on...

Composer: Jan Novák
Work: Capriccio for cello and small orchestra, III. Allegro
Recording: Jiří Bárta, Prague Philharmonia, Jakub Hrůša

#148 The Smell of Nobleness

A classy composition and a classy recording. Very noble and aristocratic. It somehow shifts from romanticism to decadence.

I don't understand Tortelier's Bach but his approach to Schumann totally suits me.

Composer: Robert Schumann
Work: Cello Concerto, III. Sehr lebhaft
Recording: Paul Tortelier, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati

#123 The Smell of Passion

If there's a smell of passion, it is found in this cello concerto. Love, death, home sickness, everything's here. Eruptive, bold melodies; soft and fragile moments (horns at 7'23''). All combined to a perpetual stream of passion.

Talich's recording of the concerto is the best one ever. Young Rostropovich has no limits. Absolutely legendary.

Composer: Antonín Dvořák
Work: Cello Concerto, I. Allegro
Recording: Mstislav Rostropovich, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Václav Talich

#59 The Smell of Downbeat

A dance that starts so brightly is slowly decaying, turning into a nightmare. Down, down to depression, all the light is gone. It is–somehow–comfortable. During the last minute, there's not even one happy tone, and yet the last one is so sedative.

I'm not sure how Isserlis can play the cello and dance at the same time but he does. This is the best of modern recordings of these suites.

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Work: Suite No 3 for Solo Cello, VI. Gigue
Recording: Steven Isserlis

#46 The Smell of Arrogance

The bar is dark. Smoke. Gin. Long legs. Steps. Money. Dance. Lust. And the smell of arrogance: it's them and it's us, and they know we can watch but cannot join. So we watch and drink and pay.

Brunello's recording is for solo cello and breathing. They both dances in wry waltzes, they both choke on the same nostalgia.

Composer: Gaspar Cassadó
Work: Suite for cello solo, III. Intermezzo e danza finale
Recording: Mario Brunello