Son of German-born pianist Peter Wallfisch who taught at London’s Royal College of Music, Raphael Wallfisch has become an internationally-recognised solo cellist, as well as being part of a family of outstanding musicians. He trained first in London with Amaryllis Fleming, then with Amadeo Baldovino in Italy and Derek Simpson in London, ending up with Gregor Piatigorsky in California before making his first major appearance in 1974. His early experiences, as for many colleagues of his generation, were truly multicultural: Fleming, daughter of Suggia’s portraitist Augustus John, had herself studied with Pierre Fournier, Guilhermina Suggia and Pablo Casals, whilst Piatigorsky brought Russian and German influences and Simpson represented the British tradition.
Wallfisch’s prolific recording career encompasses many major items of the cello repertory, but is notable for promoting a number of lesser-known works, especially of British composers. His style is conventional by modern standards and generally light in tone. This works well in the Boccherini (2004) and Vivaldi (1994) works selected here, the former managing to avoid the strained qualities often heard in its virtuosic high-register passagework.
Whilst in comparison with some others Wallfisch is not necessarily outstanding in large-scale Romantic and twentieth-century repertoire, his 1995 disc of sonatas by Rubbra, Moeran and Ireland is compelling. The Ireland in particular proves a passionate performance of some virtuosity, with Wallfisch showing a full understanding of the rather dense and brooding textures of this British idiom. An enterprising disc of works by William Wordsworth (1908–1988) – a pupil of noted composer, musicologist and pianist Donald Francis Tovey – reveals strong and striking compositions of some inventiveness, such as the Op. 66 Cello Sonata (2010). In more recent repertoire Wallfisch plays the solo part in the 2010 premiere recording of Giles Swayne’s The Silent Land (an unusual work for cello and 40-part chorus), and a matter of curiosity is the participation of three generations of the Wallfisch family in the Requiem by one of Raphael’s sons, Benjamin: a performance that shows the extraordinary talent of this important musical dynasty.
© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Milsom (A–Z of String Players, Naxos 8.558081-84)