Album out now: Steven Isserlis "Steven Isserlis plays The Marquis de Corberon (300th Anniversary Collection)"

Album out now: Steven Isserlis "Steven Isserlis plays The Marquis de Corberon (300th Anniversary Collection)"

A 300-year-old Stradivarius with a history stretching back to the French Revolution is at the heart of a new 10-CD collection from British cellist Steven Isserlis CBE, released by Hyperion Records on 2 October 2026. Made in Antonio Stradivari’s workshop in Cremona exactly 300 years ago, the ‘Marquis de Corberon’ is a treasure in the Royal Academy of Music’s fabled music collection.

The cello takes its name from an early aristocratic owner, the Marquis de Corberon, who was so passionate about music that he continued to play right up to the time of his execution in 1794. In her memoirs, fellow prisoner Claire de Duras recalled hearing him playing (the violin, not the cello) in his cell. Duras survived, the cello survived, but the Marquis went to the guillotine.

Three essays included in this comprehensive 10-CD set out the instrument’s extraordinary back-story with illuminating details, while Isserlis remembers vividly his own first encounter as a child, when Canadian cellist Zara Nelsova played it at a concert in London’s Maida Vale studios. Nelsova made all her recordings on the Marquis - including Bloch’s Schelomo, with the composer conducting.

In 2009, the Royal Academy of Music in London placed the cello into the stewardship of Steven Isserlis, appointing him its ‘Marquis de Corberon Professor of Cello’. “I fell in love with the Marquis at first touch and have remained so ever since. I have only to think of a colour and the Marquis produces it,” says Steven Isserlis.

The new collection is as much a portrait of the instrument as it is of the performer. Across ten discs and almost twelve and a half hours of music, it brings together repertoire spanning four centuries. Composers include Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Boccherini, Haydn, C P E Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Stephen Hough, Bruch, Richard Strauss, Dvořák, Luise Adolpha Le Beau and Isserlis’s close friend and collaborator Sir John Tavener.

There is also a fitting historical connection at the heart of the collection: the earliest surviving copy of Bach’s Cello Suites dates from 1726, the same year the Marquis was made.

For Isserlis, the anniversary also celebrates the idea that great historical instruments should continue to be heard. The Marquis is both an important piece of musical history and a living instrument, a work of art that has travelled with him through concert halls and recording studios for more than fifteen years.

His upcoming appearances include performances in China with Martha Argerich and Maxim Vengerov, his debut at the Ravinia Festival in the US, and recitals on three continents, including one at Wigmore Hall on 9 November. He also continues his longstanding work as Artistic Director of the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove in Cornwall.

TRACKLIST CD 1

Bach, Handel & Scarlatti: Gamba Sonatas

Johann Sebastian Bach

Sonata in G major, BWV 1027

with Richard Egarr, harpsichord

  1. Adagio
  2. Allegro ma non tanto
  3. Andante
  4. Allegro moderato

Domenico Scarlatti

Sonata in D minor, Kk 90

with Robin Michael, cello and Richard Egarr, harpsichord

  1. Grave
  2. Allegro
  3. Largo, Allegro

Johann Sebastian Bach

Sonata in G minor, BWV 1029

with Richard Egarr, harpsichord

  1. Vivace
  2. Adagio
  3. Allegro

George Frideric Handel

Violin Sonata in G minor, HWV 364b

with Robin Michael, cello and Richard Egarr, harpsichord

  1. Andante larghetto
  2. Allegro
  3. Adagio
  4. Allegro

Johann Sebastian Bach

Sonata in D major, BWV 1028

with Richard Egarr, harpsichord

  1. Adagio
  2. Allegro
  3. Andante
  4. Allegro
  5. Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639
    with Richard Egarr, harpsichord

CD 2

Boccherini: Music of the Angels

Luigi Boccherini

Cello Concerto in D major, G 479

with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

  1. Allegro
  2. Adagio
  3. Allegro

Cello Sonata in C minor, G 2b

with Maggie Cole, harpsichord

  1. Allegro
  2. Largo
  3. Allegretto

String Quintet in D minor, G 280

with Jonian Ilias Kadesha, violin, Irène Duval, violin, Eivind Ringstad, viola and Tim Posner, cello

  1. Allegro
  2. Andante sostenuto
  3. Fuga: Allegro giusto

Cello Sonata in F major, G 9

with Luise Buchberger, cello

  1. Andantino
  2. Adagio assai
  3. Tempo di minuetto amoroso

Cello Concerto in A major, “The Frog”, G 475

with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

  1. Allegro
  2. Adagio
  3. Rondo: Allegro
  4. Minuetto, Trio, Minuetto da capo, from String Quintet in E major, G 275
    with Irène Duval, violin, Jonian Ilias Kadesha, violin, Eivind Ringstad, viola and Tim Posner, cello

CD 3

Haydn & C P E Bach: Concertos

Joseph Haydn

Cello Concerto in C major, Hob VIIb:1

with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

  1. Moderato
  2. Adagio
  3. Allegro molto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arranged Steven Isserlis

39. Geme la tortorella, Cavatina from La finta giardiniera, K 196

with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Cello Concerto in A major, H 439, Wq 172

with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

  1. Allegro
  2. Largo con sordini, mesto
  3. Allegro assai

Joseph Haydn

Cello Concerto in D major, Hob VIIb:2

with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Adagio
  3. Rondo: Allegro

Luigi Boccherini

46. Adagio, from Cello Concerto in G major, G 480

with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

CD 4

Beethoven: Sonatas

Ludwig van Beethoven

with Robert Levin, fortepiano

Cello Sonata in F major, Op 5 No 1

  1. Adagio sostenuto
  2. Allegro
  3. Allegro vivace

Cello Sonata in G minor, Op 5 No 2

  1. Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo
  2. Allegro molto più tosto presto
  3. Rondo: Allegro

Cello Sonata in A major, Op 69

  1. Allegro, ma non tanto
  2. Scherzo: Allegro molto
  3. Adagio cantabile
  4. Allegro vivace

CD 5

Beethoven: Sonatas and Variations

Ludwig van Beethoven

with Robert Levin, fortepiano

Cello Sonata in C major, Op 102 No 1

  1. Andante
  2. Allegro vivace
  3. Adagio, Tempo d'andante
  4. Allegro vivace

Cello Sonata in D major, Op 102 No 2

  1. Allegro con brio
  2. Adagio con molto sentimento d'affetto
  3. Allegro, Allegro fugato
  4. Variations in G major on “See the conqu'ring hero comes” from Handel's Judas Maccabaeus, WoO 45
  5. Variations in F major on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Op 66
  6. Variations in E flat major on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, WoO 46

Horn Sonata in F major, Op 17

  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Poco adagio, quasi andante
  3. Rondo: Allegro moderato

CD 6

Chopin & Schubert: Sonatas

Frédéric Chopin

Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op 3

with Dénes Várjon, piano

  1. Introduction
  2. Alla Polacca

Auguste Franchomme

72. Nocturne in C minor, Op 15 No 1

with Dénes Várjon, piano

Frédéric Chopin

Cello Sonata in G minor, Op 65

with Dénes Várjon, piano

  1. Maestoso
  2. Scherzo
  3. Largo
  4. Finale: Allegro
  5. Nie ma czego trzeba, “Faded and vanished”, Op 74 No 13
    arranged Steven Isserlis
    with Dénes Várjon, piano

Franz Schubert

Arpeggione Sonata in A minor, D 821

with Dénes Várjon, piano

  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Adagio
  3. Allegretto
  4. Nacht und Träume, D 827
    arranged Steven Isserlis
    with Dénes Várjon, piano

CD 7

Mendelssohn, Grieg & Hough: Sonatas

Edvard Grieg

Cello Sonata in A minor, Op 36

with Sir Stephen Hough, piano

  1. Allegro agitato
  2. Andante molto tranquillo
  3. Allegro molto e marcato

Stephen Hough

Sonata for cello and piano left hand, “Les adieux”

with Sir Stephen Hough, piano

  1. Moderato mesto
  2. Allegretto placido, Im Legendenton
  3. Adagio sereno

Felix Mendelssohn

Cello Sonata No 2 in D major, Op 58

with Sir Stephen Hough, piano

  1. Allegro assai vivace
  2. Allegretto scherzando
  3. Adagio
  4. Molto allegro e vivace

CD 8

A Golden Cello Decade, 1878 to 1888

Max Bruch

92. Kol Nidrei, Op 47

with Connie Shih, piano and Olivia Jageurs, harp

Richard Strauss

Cello Sonata in F major, Op 6

with Connie Shih, piano

  1. Allegro con brio
  2. Larghetto
  3. Allegro vivace

Antonín Dvořák, arranged Steven Isserlis

4 Romantic Pieces, Op 75

with Connie Shih, piano

  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Allegro maestoso
  3. Allegro appassionato
  4. Larghetto

Luise Adolpha Le Beau

Cello Sonata in D major, Op 17

with Connie Shih, piano

  1. Allegro molto
  2. Andante tranquillo
  3. Allegro vivace

Ernst David Wagner

103. Kol Nidrei, No 1 of Schir Zijon, Op 44

with Connie Shih, piano

Isaac Nathan, arranged Steven Isserlis

104. Oh! weep for those

with Connie Shih, piano

CD 9

Dvořák: Concertos

Antonín Dvořák

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op 104

with Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding, conductor

  1. Allegro
  2. Adagio ma non troppo
  3. Allegro moderato
  4. Lasst mich allein, Op 82 No 1
    arranged Bohuslav Leopold
    with Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding, conductor
  5. Cello Concerto in B minor, original ending, Op 104
    with Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding, conductor

Cello Concerto in A major

revised and orchestrated by Günter Raphael

with Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding, conductor

  1. Andante, Allegro non troppo
  2. Andante cantabile
  3. Allegro risoluto

CD 10

Tavener: No longer mourn for me

Sir John Tavener

  1. Preces and Responses
    arranged Steven Isserlis
    with Caroline Dearnley, Chiara Enderle, Matthew Huber, Vashti Hunter, Bartholomew LaFollette, Amy Norrington and David Waterman, cellos
  2. The death of Ivan Ilyich: Smert. He has a strange taste in his mouth. It is death
    with Matthew Rose, bass, Philharmonia Orchestra and Omer Meir Wellber, conductor
  3. Mahámátar
    with Abi Sampa, Sufi singer, Trinity Boys Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra and Omer Meir Wellber, conductor
  4. Popule meus
    with Philharmonia Orchestra and Omer Meir Wellber, conductor
  5. No longer mourn for me, Sonnet LXXI from Three Shakespeare Sonnets
    arranged Steven Isserlis
    with Caroline Dearnley, Chiara Enderle, Matthew Huber, Vashti Hunter, Bartholomew LaFollette, Amy Norrington and David Waterman, cellos

ABOUT STEVEN ISSERLIS

British cellist Steven Isserlis CBE has an international career as a soloist, chamber musician, author, educator and broadcaster. He has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras and has given the world premieres of works including Sir John Tavener’s The Protecting Veil and Thomas Adès’s Lieux retrouvés, as well as works by György Kurtág, Jörg Widmann and Olli Mustonen. His extensive discography includes his Gramophone award winning recording of Bach’s Cello Suites and he has received two Grammy nominations. He is also an author and broadcaster and has presented documentaries for BBC Radio. Isserlis was awarded a CBE in 1998 for services to music and has been Artistic Director of the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove since 1997. He plays the 1726 Marquis de Corberon Stradivarius on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.

Steven Isserlis

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