... Dankzij zijn gevoelige, beheerste, haast voorzichtige en in alle opzichten
perfectionistische spel, brengt dit plaatje 75 minuten sereniteit en rust.
Yoga voor de geest.
Focus Knack (Belgium), 7 january 2004
Sergei Istomin nous livre ici une vision exigeante et magistrale de ces oeuvres
solos, chant du cygne de l’instrument, qui demandent beaucoup à
l’instrumentiste. Réussir à faire chanter une viole comme
une voix, voilà le défi relevé et gagne par Sergei Istomin.
Sortir Week-end, Lille, France
...As he demonstrated in his previous Analekta album devoted to Bach's six
Suites For Unaccompanied Cello, Istomin is a strong player with a forceful
personality and it is good to have an album showcasing other instrument...
Toronto Star, Thursday, October 16, 2003
These are, above all, thoughtful and beautifully poised performances, imbued
with expressive breadth and a wistfulness that is thoroughly fitting for this
glorious musical 'Spätlese'. Istomin's sound is silken and lustrous,
though at times he can also produce a hauntingly stark, spectral qualityto
enhance moments of austerity and tristesse. The Analekta team has produced
a fine recording - detailed without being oppressive, and wrapped in a halo
of church space.
BBC Music Magazine, February, 2004
A recently received batch of new Analekta recordings fairly typifies the
delicacies offered. Two widely divergent programs are particularly successful
and can be warmly recommended. My first choice -a disc I have played numerous
times in the past few weeks - brings to theforeground one of the mainstay
members of Tafelmusik, the viola da gamba virtuoso SergeiIstomin. Trained
in Moscow and at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, Istomin has honed his craft
as a participant in many of the most renowned period ensembles. In a recital
of solo viola da gamba works by the late 16th and 17th century composers CarI
Friedrich Abel, Johannes Schenk and Georg Philipp Telemann, Istomin manages
to make what might otherwise seem arcane, ascetic and pedantic sound both
passionate and compelling. Abel was a good friend of J. S. Bach 's son Johann
Christian, a fact that suggests some of the freedom and affect that his music
attempts. Istomin makes the solo voice dance, sigh, ponder and proclaim, always
perfectly on pitch and richly nuanced in timbre and dynamics; Analekta's sound
engineer captures both the rich bass swells and the rosiny upper register
to perfection.
Ottawa Citizen, January, 2004