Classic II

by Stjepan Hauser

Overview

Hauser (or HAUSER, or Stjepan Hauser) was one half of the 2Cellos duo that made a splash in the early 2010s. He has managed to keep the franchise going through intelligently programmed cello crossover albums that include two made up of famous (and not-so-famous) classical tunes. Classic II is the second of these and landed on classical best-seller lists when it appeared in 2024. The melodies, all of them in basically the same slow tempo, will mostly be familiar even to the general listeners at whom Hauser is aiming, but there are a few surprises, like Kiss the Rain, a composition by the South Korean pianist Yiruma. This is an intelligent move that may draw in some listeners who might otherwise not have found their way to Hauser's music. The accompaniments here are by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Ziegler, but it is really Hauser, as producer as well as performer, who shapes the flow of events. Another presence, only minimally credited, is arranger Robin Smith. He places Hauser front and center immediately as almost every piece begins, delivering the warm cello bath listeners will be waiting for, but after that, he adds just enough variety in the arrangement to keep things from cloying. The orchestral strings are broken up by wind solos or a piano, and the texture may pour it on or become sparser. Online listeners get a bonus track in the form of the Adagietto from Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor, a piece that fits Hauser's agenda nicely. "Let the beauty of classical music take over the world," Hauser has written on social media in promoting this release. A tall order, to be sure, but within its more modest actual aims, the album succeeds. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	04/19/2024
Label:	Masterworks
UPC:	0196588536328
Rank:	387

Tracks

1. Adagio
2. Piano Concerto No. 23~Adagio
3. Cantata BWV 156~Arioso
4. Symphony No. 2~Adagio [Excerpt]
5. Slavonic Dance
6. Emmanuel
7. Kiss the Rain
8. Serenade
9. Rusalka~Song to the Moon
10. Una Furtiva Lagrima
11. Pathétique Sonata~Adagio cantabile
12. Intermezzo
13. Tristesse
14. Concerto for oboe, strings & continuo in D minor, SF. 935~Adagio d'Amore
15. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini~18. Adagio cantabile
16. Postlude No. 3
17. Lullaby

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Stjepan Hauser   Primary Artist,Cello
Robert Ziegler   Conductor
London Symphony Orchestra   Orchestra

Technical Credits

Valentin Silvestrov   Composer
Filip Vidovic   Mixing,Producer,Mastering
Stjepan Hauser   Producer
Amelia Tubb   Design
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   Composer
Simon Rhodes   Engineer
Tomaso Albinoni   Composer
Frederic Chopin   Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach   Composer
Gaetano Donizetti   Composer
Robin Smith   Arranger
Nick Patrick   Producer
Michel Colombier   Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov   Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven   Composer
Julian Wright   Management
Franz Schubert   Composer
Antonin Dvorak   Composer
Johannes Brahms   Composer
Simon Emmett   Photography
Alessandro Marcello   Composer
Yiruma   Composer
Ron Jaramillo   Creative Director