Pergamenschikow plays a modern cello, but he has a great sense of style. His rubato is carefully judged, perfectly capturing a sense of Baroque fantasy as opposed to the mere Romantic gratuitousness of Maisky and Rostropovich (not to mention some of Starker's very odd tempo distortions). Like the period performance recordings (Bylsma, Wispelwey and ter Linden), Pergamenschikow projects short sub-phrases, yet like Ma he never looses a sense of the long line. He uses a wider range of dynamics and articulation than the period performance people (who often fall back on a rather bland legato), yet it's always within the bounds of good taste, never even approaching Rostropovich's huffing and puffing. Pergamenschikow phrases with eloquence (with carefully judged vibrato, usually reserved for points of tension and arrival in harmony and register) without degrading into Romantic breast-beating. Best of all, Pergamenschikow adds embellishments that sound stylistic and convincing (much more so than those in Maisky's recent recording on DG). All in all, Pergamenschikow's interpretation is both scholarly and passionate, poised yet displaying great love for this incomparable music.
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