These are perfectly agreeable performances of
Haydn's Cello Concertos coupled with his Symphony No. 22.
Michal Kanka is a fine young cellist with a splendid technique, a strong tone, and graceful turn of bow. The
Prague Chamber Orchestra plays without a conductor and so solid is the ensemble and subtle the interplay that it clearly does not need one. Together
Kanka and the
PCO create performances with poise, polish, and panache and interpretations with warmth, wit, humanity, and musicality. While the Adagios want more intensity in the Concertos and more gravity in the Symphony, the joy and pleasure of the closing Allegros is always just right. And there are moments, notably
Kanka's whole marvelous cadenza in the Concerto in D major, that are wonderfully moving. Praga's super audio CD sound is reverberant and a little too distant and without enough depth.