Smorgasbord indeed! This “all-you-can-eat” collection offers a tasty selection of musical delicacies. Beginning with Korngold’s lovely Mummenschantz and Romance Impromptu, and proceeding through Sibelius’ Rondino and Berceuse, Jongen’s beautiful Waltz, Scriabin’s serene Poem, Martinu’s perky Arabesque, Kreisler’s poignant Liebeslied, Fauré’s lovely Piece for Cello, and finally Stenhammar’s stately and lyrical Adagio, we are offered more than 25 mouth-watering items from which to choose. Lidström and Forsberg make each number irresistible with their skillful and impassioned playing, unerring good taste, and exceptional musicianship. Those with adventurous palettes will savor such special pieces as Paul Tortelier’s darkly dancing Pishnetto (with its tangy plucked glissandos), and Lidström’s own The Sea of Flowers is Rising Higher, an elegiac rhapsody for solo cello. There are even dollops of Rameau (Torture d’Alphise) and Tille (Courante) for connoisseurs of the baroque. A feast such as this would be incomplete without a fine wine, and Hyperion’s ideally balanced, dynamically vivid recording provides the equivalent of that. Bon appetit!
