Jaime Morales, Bulgarica Philharmonia & Jesus Morales - French Cello Works (2006)

Cellist Jesús Morales and conductor Jaime Morales (who are brothers) offer an acceptable though unimaginative performance of four very standard works from the French repertoire for cello and orchestra. The program, consisting of the Saint-Saëns and Lalo concertos and two shorts works by Fauré, is generally safe and uninventive; if the focus is to be French music, surely there are some ways to branch out from the norm and offer listeners a little spice and variety. None of the pieces are particularly virtuosic from a technical standpoint, so one would hope the performances would be especially ravishing and exciting. Unfortunately, Morales' playing is as cautious and uninspiring as his program selection. The first movement of the Saint-Saëns is the exception to this; Morales' tempo is forward moving and his sound is quite intense and well-focused. By the third movement, however, the tempo becomes much more pedantic and Morales' vitality drops off considerably. So too in the Lalo, where Morales plays with adequate amounts of technical accuracy but lacks any real spice or character on which the piece so heavily relies. Tempos again are on the slow side, making the performance seem like little more than going through the motions.