Steven Isserlis, Lon Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas - Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1, Sonata No. 1, Romances (1990)

'Concerto!' was a Channel Four TV series that showed participating soloists in rehearsal, in conversation with Dudley Moore and Michael Tilson Thomas and, ultimately, in performance, which resulted in several recordings, of which this is one. This disc is recommendable not so much for Steven Isserlis's Cello Concerto – smooth and intelligent as that is – as for the fillups.
The swan has Moore and Tilson Thomas as joint accompanists, elegantly executed, but the items with Pascal Devoyon are especially valuable, the First Cello Sonata full of elegantly tailored drama, the two Romances, Chant saphique and Gavotte palpable charmers, tastefully played; and the headstrong, thematically memorable Allegro appassionato, one of the finest shorter pieces in the cellist's repertory. The disc is enhanced by the opportunity of hearing the rather affecting but relatively unfamiliar Prière, composed for André Hekking just two years before Saint-Saëns's death.