The Baroque Album

There is no doubting that both technically and musically he is an outstandingly gifted player, able to command not only tonal beauty across the range of his instrument (his upper register has a violinistic purity), but also to prove himself more than a match for all of Boccherini's virtuoso tricks. --Fanfare

The Boccherini concerto is, of course, the work that achieved such notorious popularity in the vulgar hybrid version by Grützmacher. Needless to say (at least I hope it’s needless in this day and age), Wang plays the original score. There is no doubting that both technically and musically he is an outstandingly gifted player, able to command not only tonal beauty across the range of his instrument (his upper register has a violinistic purity), but also to prove himself more than a match for all of Boccherini’s virtuoso tricks. The first theme of the opening Allegro moderato is played with an easy elegance, while he draws beautifully sustained lines in the central movement, even if it is taken too slowly and with too much vibrato employed for my taste. The high-spirited Rondo finale is also very winning, Wang’s strongly accentuated upbeat on the main theme providing an excellent impetus maintained throughout the movement...

...Monn, an important figure in the development of the early Viennese symphony, was noted for his sound contrapuntal skills, here on particular display in the final Allegro non tanto. But the jewel of the work is the beautiful central Adagio, a 12/8 siciliana in E♭•played by Wang with great affection and searching expressivity. Throughout, the writing for the cello is fluently accomplished, the concentration on the instrument’s lower register enhancing the serious, at times uneasy mood of the outer movements... -- Brian Robins, FANFARE

MP3 320 · 123 MB