Gambist and cellist Elinor Frey, professor of baroque cello at McGill University and the University of Montreal, patiently builds a relevant discography of international level based, musically, on a number of world premieres and, instrumentally, on the exploration of violas da gamba and cellos of all sizes. In the first register, we will cite the CD Antonio Vandini at Passacaille. In the second, on the cello, his most recent Early Italian Cello Concertos at Analekta. She returns here to Dall’Allbaco (1710-1805), which had earned her, with a first CD, a Diapason d’or in 2020. This novelty explores a repertoire combining two cellos, and the intense fusion (telluric force of the “Pastorale Siciliana” on track 2) reached by Dall’Abaco and the Elinor Frey-Catherine Jones tandem (professor of the Dall’Abaco Conservatory in Verona!) is very impressive. Some works are pure duets, others are illuminated by a theorbo and a harpsichord. It’s sometimes a little austere, but it’s deeply beautiful.
To see in video