Felix Schmidt is a young cellist whose playing I have regularly enjoyed in concert and recital. This collection of cello lollipops brings a formidable display of his very positive merits, above all the big, firm tone which is beautifully caught by the Pickwick recording. This is an instance where the scale of the sound is genuine, not simply a question of close microphone placing. Schmidt—now a member of the Trio Zingara—makes the breadth of his artistry clear even in relatively light-weight repertory. The two most substantial items are the Beethoven—with the fun and fantasy of the writing brought out by Annette Cole as well as Schmidt—and the Bruch, tenderly done, bringing out the piece's natural gravity, with the close on a high harmonic particularly beautiful.
Schmidt avoids any suspicion of sentimentality treating such lyrical pieces as Le cygne and Rachmaninov's Vocalise very simply. He might have tried to magic the end of the Saint-Saens even more, and his own Kreisler arrangement is deliberately done straight, with little or no Viennese 'naughtiness'. The Popper showpiece, the Spinning Song in moto perpetuo, is not so cleanly done as it might be, but there is plenty of brilliance in the unavoidable Bumble-bee and in both the Falla pieces, arranged respectively by Piatigorsky (stunningly well) and Gendron. Nicely varied, bringing generous measure on a mid-price CD this undemanding disc will win Schmidt many friends.'