CHANTS D’EST • Sonia Wieder-Atherton (vc); Christophe Mangou, cond; Snf Varsovia • NAÏVE 5178 (61:47)

RACHMANINOff (arr. Polonsky) Vespers: Nunc dimittis. DOHNÁNYI Ruralia hungarica: Andante rubato, alla zingaresca; Presto. A. TCHEREPNIN Tatar Dance. KRAWCZYCK Jeux d’enfants. PROKOFIEV Alexander Nevsky: The field of the dead. MARTInů (arr. Temi) Variations on a Slovak Folksong. MAHLER Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. TRAD (arr. Wieder-Atherton) Jewish Song in Remembrance of Schubert. Dance

“Songs from Slavic Lands,” to use this compilation’s English title, features the “conception and musical direction” of cellist Wieder-Atherton, “with the complicity of Franck Krawczyck.” In her booklet note, Wieder-Atherton explains that she was attracted by Mitteleuropa, and its history of languages and cultures struggling to retain their identity, and of saying what it is forbidden to say. Of course this is not music originally written for cello and string orchestra, so Krawczyck was brought on board to effect the arrangements. This then, is more a “concept album” or an album celebrating the cellist than a gap-filler. I have no problem with that. Wieder-Atherton has several CDs to her credit—several for RCA with esteemed pianist Imogen Cooper—and she clearly is an intelligent musician who is not content with recording the basic repertoire over and over again.

The program works beautifully. The works chosen fit together happily, and Krawczyck’s arrangements surpass expectations. The Prokofiev and Mahler (especially) might seem, at best, prone to come across as classy easy listening music in arrangements for cello and strings, but Krawczyck and Wieder-Atherton are on guard against that, and the syrup doesn’t overwhelm the pancake, so to speak. The cellist also avoids a “one tone fits all” approach to the repertoire. She can play with a big juicy tone, but she also can pare it down and let the cello moan softly, tease, and speak in the guttural yet appealing tones of a Gypsy woman. The two movements from Ruralia hungarica are especially affecting, as is the last of Krawczyck’s seven Jeux d’enfants, although there is also a winning sense of humor at work here—for example, in the fifth, which is laugh-out-loud funny. A good CD can stimulate your desire to go more deeply into the repertoire or to hear more from the musician in question, and “Chants d’Est” passes both of those tests.

The Warsaw-based Sinfonia Varsovia, founded in 1984 “on the initiative of” Yehudi Menuhin, provides idiomatic and not overbearing support to Wieder-Atherton on this CD. Although the focus is on her, the Polish musicians are equal partners.

With that big Yo-Yo Ma retrospective coming out around now, this CD might fall through the cracks. Don’t let it. Cello lovers with a nostalgic streak will love this. I did, anyway!

FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle