The album includes sonatas by Beethoven (A major) and Chopin, alongside shorter works by Glazunov, Rubinstein, Offenbach, and Popper.
Richard recorded the album with the Austrian pianist, Christoph Berner.
"Splendid playing from this young cellist in a debut of distinction." Duncan Druce, Gramophone
"On this showing, he is a player of discernment and finesse, phrasing eloquently and conjuring a beautiful range of colours from his mahogany-toned 1682 Rugeri cello." Richard Wigmore, The Daily Telegraph
"an articulate musician with zest, spontaneity, technical assurance and a lovely sense of line......a major talent." Helen Wallace, BBC Music Magazine
"With all the finesse, poise and virtuosity of a star in the making......He displays a fresh insight, effortless musicianship and a confidence belying his years." Anthony Holden, The Observer
"EMI Classics scores another hit in its Debut series." Raymond S. Tuttle, International Record Review
"Effortlessly natural." Paul Sizer, Muso
"With his rich but clean tone and strong but fluent technique, it's clear that English cellist Richard Harwood spent time in Vienna studying with the great Heinrich Schiff. Restrained but deeply expressive, intelligent but profoundly soulful, virtuosic but less concerned with showing off his talent than with delving into the music, Harwood is imbued with the spirit of the central European tradition of selfless music-making." James Leonard, allmusic.com
"Noticeable from the solo opening of Beethoven's op.69 is the voluptuous shaping of Harwood's phrasing - no half measures here. His playing is hard to beat for sheer beauty of tone." Janet Banks, The Strad
"The young English cellist Richard Harwood has chosen wisely for his calling-card debut CD for EMI. He clearly has a hand-in-glove musical relationship with his pianist, Christoph Berner. And he shines in all the repertoire he's chosen, major sonatas by Beethoven and Chopin, given with ardent grandeur and generous lyricism, and a clutch of encore pieces delivered with a quality of finish that appears to come from superb technique allied to deep affection. Expect to hear a lot more from both of these performers." Michael Dervan, The Irish Times
"In the opening Beethoven sonata, he delivers the alternating phrases of fiery energy and melting sweetness with equal conviction... With an EMI debut of this strength, I’m already looking forward to the next one." Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk/music
"Richard Harwood's debut CD with Christoph Berner contains some quite extraordinary technical accomplishment and a very fine balance of cello and piano (quite rare these days) achieved by EMI. I particularly enjoyed the Chopin Sonata and a first rate account of Popper's Elfentanz." Keith Harvey, Violoncello Society of London
"Richard Harwood's cello recital does indeed offer plenty to enjoy......Harwood and Berner display fine duo partnership and strong, intelligent musical instincts." Jessica Duchen, Classic FM Magazine
"A terrific CD debut." Geoff Brown, The Times
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"probably the greatest young 'cello talent since Jacqueline du Pré" Margaret Campbell, The Strad
"His Beethoven Op5 No1 was one of the finest performances I've heard. It's young-style Beethoven and Harwood perfectly caught the freshness and delicacy of this sonata." Annette Morreau, The Independent
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Richard Harwood started playing the piano at the age of 4 and took up the 'cello soon afterwards. Since his critically acclaimed concerto debut at the age of ten, Richard Harwood has performed concerti and recitals in major venues including London’s Royal Albert Hall, all of the South Bank Centre venues, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein (Vienna), Alte Oper (Frankfurt), Thomaskirche (Leipzig), and the Auditorium du Louvre (Paris).
Concerto performances have taken Richard throughout Europe, New Zealand, and the Russian Federation. He has collaborated with conductors such as Okko Kamu, Marko Letonja, Douglas Bostock, David Parry, En Shao, Shuntaro Sato, and Yehudi Menuhin, and been soloist with numerous orchestras including the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonia, Auckland Philharmonia, and the Ural Philharmonic.
Richard has a passion for duo and chamber music and works with the pianists Christoph Berner and Julius Drake. As chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Endellion Quartet, Olivier Charlier, Benjamin Schmid, Ilya Gringolts, Pekka Kuusisto, Jack Liebeck, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Ida Levin, Guy Ben-Ziony, James Boyd, Chen Halevi, Julian Bliss, Finghin Collins, Gottlieb Wallisch, and Ashley Wass, among others. At Chamber Music Connects the World in 2006, Richard gave concerts in Frankfurt and Kronberg with Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, and Eduard Brunner.
Richard regularly plays on BBC, having made his BBC Radio 3 debut at the age of thirteen with a live recording of the Elgar Concerto. He has also given performances for Radio France, MDR, and Radio New Zealand. Richard’s debut disc for EMI Classics, recorded with pianist Christoph Berner, was released to wide critical acclaim in 2007.
He has won numerous awards including the prestigious 2004 Pierre Fournier Award and, in the same year, became the first British 'cellist ever to be awarded the title "Bachpreisträger" at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, Leipzig. In 2005, Richard received a special ”mention” from the jury at the Rostropovich Competition, Paris.
Performances in the coming seasons will include Lalo, Barber, and Haydn Concerti and recitals and chamber music with Gottlieb Wallisch, Julia Fedoseeva, Christoph Berner, Ilya Gringolts, Chloe Hanslip, and Alexander Sitkovetsky at venues and festivals such as the Budapest Spring Festival, Vienna's Musikverein, and London's Wigmore Hall.
In 2009, Richard can be seen and heard in Phil Grabsky's new documentary In Search of Beethoven which will receive its theatrical premiere at the Barbican Theatre, London and broadcast premiere on Sky Arts.
Richard plays a 'cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.
Congratulations on your successes. I bought your fine debut album and recently heard you play on the radio. Your discipline, insight, and joy is all to our benefit. Thank you! Christina
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