Corinne Morris & SCO - Chrysalis - All Music

Cellist Corinne Morris has a compelling story: sidelined by overuse injuries, she found help from a sports therapist and was reunited with her cello, which she had had to sell. The album title Chrysalis refers here to development with a common element, and Morris' program runs from Baroque to Classical with the transitional, late-Vivaldian Cello Concerto in G minor of Viennese composer Georg Matthias Monn in the middle. This little-known work was sometimes played by Jacqueline du Pré, but Morris' version, with the cellist surrounded by the players of the conductorless Scottish Chamber Orchestra, is distinctive, and Morris' smooth melodic style fits the work. Whether it can quite stand up as the centerpiece is another question, but the early Haydn Cello Concerto in C major, Hob. 7b/1, seems to proceed logically from it, and Haydn may well have known the work. One can wish for a bit more Classical grace from the SCO in the latter two works as well, but overall this is a worthwhile return from Morris.