The thing with the artist formerly known as Nigel is that his audience never knows what he might do next, and that, we must assume, is the way Kennedy likes it. This release of duos for violin and cello presents music that conventionally wouldn't be found on a single disc, the concise notes stating that the Bach and Handel pieces represent the "very antithesis" of the "linear approach" of Kodály and Ravel. This contrast-and-compare approach offers effective insight into possibly unfamiliar music, a diversity closer to a concert program than a regular CD. Ravel's Sonata for violin and cello is far removed from the composer's lush orchestral sound, a stark anticipation of Bartók's Third Piano Concerto. Kodály's Duo provides warmth, strongly infused with the folk tradition of the composer's native Hungary. Cellist Lynn Harrell clearly has an affinity for such music. (He's simultaneously released a recording of Miklós Rózsa's Cello Concerto.) The Baroque-derived works are much shorter, the Bach being a new transcription of the Two-Part Invention No. 6, the Handel Passacaglia a hybrid adapted by the Norwegian conductor Johan Halvorsen from the Harpsichord Suite No.7. With superb sound and intensely focused playing, this imaginative program offers highly committed music-making. --Gary S. Dalkin
