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For a long time the cello was considered an accompanying instrument. It wasn’t until Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) that the cello finally came into its own in the music world. Indeed, his 6 Suites for violoncello solo, composed between 1717 and 1723, at a stroke opened up wonderful new perspectives for the instrument. Thenceforth performers had to develop their technique to become veritable virtuosos, as did for example Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, father of Joseph Clément Ferdinand Barone Dall’Abaco. He was renowned throughout Europe and educated his son attentively. Consequently Joseph Dall’Abaco also became an internationally respected cellist in his turn. He worked for many years in that capacity, naturally, but also as a composer, in the most prestigious courts of Europe. In composing his 11 caprices, Joseph Dall’Abaco offered subsequent generations a moving testimony to this period of intense instrumental investigation. The cycle of original pieces he wrote allow us even today to rediscover the technical possibilities of the instrument as well as its immense dramatic potential. Interesting to observe is how the composer circumvents the cello’s harmonic limitations to make it as polyphonic as possible. It is also fascinating to savour the freedom of interpretation he left to the performer. Playing the 11 Caprices by Clément Ferdinand Barone Dall’Abaco on a G. Grancino cello from 1679 that itself went through this fantastic evolution... is powerfully symbolic! An original programme, virtuosic and creative, that promises a unique experience.

To play these 11 caprices on an Italian violoncello made in 1679 is a rare privilege. Choosing to use metal strings tuned up to a modern A of 442 Hz is the fruit of much reflection. I am convinced that Joseph Clément Ferdinand Barone Dall’Abaco composed these works in a spirit of exploration and innovation. Of course the cello has continued to evolve over ensuing centuries, and I believe Dall’Abaco would have loved to exploit the sonorities made possible by technical progress of the instrument.

“The thing is to free one’s self: to let it find its own dimensions, not be impeded.” Virginia Woolf

"A scathing virtuosity and a captivating sense of narrative".

"Estelle Revaz plays this delightful music brilliantly."

"Estelle Revaz is characterised by imagination and playful ingenuity."

"A top-notch performance!"

"Late Baroque miniatures that surprise with their rebellious dynamism. Revaz plays them with her own energy and urgency!"

"Estelle Revaz lifts this unknown treasure with her playing at a high technical level. Her flawlessly intoned sound is just as convincing as her clear phrasing. She approaches the dynamic gradations with great finesse. She also finds the connection between gallant expression on the one hand and baroque appeal on the other. The works thus present themselves as a link between Bach’s suites, written around half a century earlier, and subsequent compositions."

"Like Johann Sebastian Bach's famous cello suites, Dall'Abaco's capriccios have an unusually contemplative and engaging effect when listened to. Estelle Revaz plays the pieces on a historical instrument from 1679, albeit with modern metal strings. She is sure that the composer would also have liked to have had this option. That is hard to verify. But one thing is certain: artistically, the album is a success.”

“Each Caprice is as much a technical challenge as it is a poetic one; a milestone on a journey that resembles an ascent to dizzying heights: here, the challenge forces the performer's temperament to commit itself as never before. Precision and intensity of gesture, mastery of nuance and chiselled phrasing, Estelle Revaz has lost none of the charm that made her previous albums so successful. But this one goes even further in the direction of a solo purity, a superlative act of maturation that would interrogate the material of her last struggles as a most committed artist.”

"A capriccio is always a small but pleasurable violation of the applicable rules. It is about using imagination and playful ingenuity, both in composition and in interpretation. The Swiss cellist Estelle Revaz is exactly the right person for this music: curious, modern, very committed, and deeply connected to tradition. The pieces not only show the technical capabilities of the cello, but also its great dramatic potential. Particularly noteworthy is the freedom he allows musicians in the interpretation of his works. Estelle Revaz savors this freedom in every note and can also show what a brilliant cellist she is."

"Playing that constantly captures our attention! Estelle Revaz delights us with the quantity of nuances and subtle variations she brings out of her instrument. This album is a marvellous testimony to the emotional potential that lies within the cello, a true festival of song and color!"