Hot on the heels of Victor Julien-Laferrière and David Robertson’s recent recording of Henri Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain … (Alpha) comes Edgar Moreau’s new entry. The sound may not match the Alpha recording’s definition in softer passages and rich bottom end yet the palpable concert-hall realism results in ideal and proportioned balances between the cello soloist and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. This is readily apparent in the elegantly sculpted cello/ensemble exchanges of the opening ‘Énigme’, especially in the rapid concertante-like passages. Throughout this movement one can take dictation from Moreau’s centred and nimble pizzicato articulation and his spot-on high-register intonation. Nor does this cellist sacrifice tone for speed, as his supple bow arm and seamless string crossings bear out in the third section, ‘Houles’; his diminuendo on the darting upward arpeggio at 3'58" will keep young cellists humble! The ‘Miroirs’ section benefits from conductor Andris Poga’s slightly leaner textures and faster basic tempo in comparison to Robertson’s weightier conception. I still gravitate towards cellist Boris Pergamenschikow’s timbral individuality and Yan Pascal Tortelier’s harder-edged orchestral framework (Chandos), to say nothing of Rostropovich’s towering premiere recording. Yet Moreau and Poga’s synchronicity and authority deserve the highest praise.

Perhaps the performers’ virtues stand out more in the less frequently recorded Weinberg Concerto. Weinberg’s debt to Shostakovich permeates the composition, especially in the finale’s main theme, which resembles that in the older composer’s earlier Eighth Symphony. Yet one cannot deny Weinberg’s melodic invention and colourfully transparent orchestration. Probably the only reason this appealing work seldom turns up in concerts is due to its quiet ending, which is hauntingly sustained here.

Moreau shapes the first-movement Adagio’s long lines like a seasoned lieder singer, replete with subtle shadings and discreetly effective portamentos. In the Moderato, you’ll notice the playful and pointed repartee between the cellist and the WDR’s first-desk woodwinds. Although the Allegro has plenty of vigour and scintillating flourishes, it sounds a bit square next to an earlier Channel Classics recording, which stands out for cellist Nicolas Altstaedt’s interestingly inflected solo work and the variety of articulation that Michał Nesterowicz obtains from the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Quibbles aside, It’s good to have these two substantial and stylistically divergent works coupled in one release.