The Beauty & the Bow (Rhine Classics RH-034) is an eight-disc collection of rare recordings by the American cellist Christine Walevska, once hailed as the ‘Goddess of Cello’. While she made many recordings for Philips, this set features gems from her own private collection. They include performances recorded for radio and home recordings, captured 1958-2014. It’s a broad view of her celebrated career and international appeal; indeed, there are concert recordings from the US, Japan, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Germany, France, Belgium and Spain. It’s a wide range of music, too, with Walevska taking on everything from Bach to lesser-known works by Popper, William Schuman and Bolognini.
It remains one of the greatest ever conductor and orchestra partnerships, and in Herbert von Karajan – Live in Berlin 1953-1969 (Berlin Phil BPHR 240291)…
