Imagination

Description

Raphaela Gromes has been acclaimed for her highly virtuosic, brilliant, and passionately expressive cello playing. What also distinguishes this exceptional musician is her pleasure in the hunt for musical treasures. With her latest releases on Sony Classical, she has delighted critics and audiences by recording world premieres of works by Richard Strauss and Julius Klengel. Her album Offenbach received the Opus Klassik Award 2020. For her new album Imagination, Raphaela has chosen music that highlights imaginary worlds: music based on stories, on fairy tales. This vast selection of works includes a waltz from Tchaikovsky's ballet "Sleeping Beauty," a "Fairy Tale Narration" by Robert Schumann, the "Evening Prayer" from the popular fairy-tale opera "Hansel and Gretel" by Humperdinck, the "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and other dream-inviting, magical, and very poetic pieces by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904), and Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Imagination also features lesser-known works by David Popper, Paul Juon, and rarities such as "Märchenstunde" by composer Margarete Schweikert, and "Forgotten Fairy Tales" by New Yorker Edward McDowell. Most of the pieces are newly arranged by Julian Riem, Raphaela's duo partner, for cello and piano, but also for trio with piano and for a complementary quartet of harps and saxophones. Raphaela Gromes recorded the arrangements with Julian Riem and musician friends such as Daniels Dodds (violin), Arcis Saxophone Quartet, and Anaïs Gaudemard (harp). Raphaela Gromes came up with the idea for this album during a hike in spring 2020 - when she stumbled upon a particularly enchanted spot in a forest at dusk. "The sky was reflecting in the pond, and the backlight created a magical glow around the reeds and flowers, as if elves and fairies were floating in the light above the water," says Raphaela Gromes. "David Popper's 'Dance of the Elves' came to my mind. I was immediately inspired and full of energy, and when I got home, I immediately set out to find other music that would take me into the world of magic and fantasy." The album concludes with "The Shire" from The Lord of the Rings and "Leia's theme" from Star Wars, both recorded in a new version for cello and piano.