Sweet Anxiety
New Works For Cello, 2002-2013
Released October 20th, 2017 on populist records
Cellist Ashley Walters' first solo album features performances of six contemporary works for cello by composers Luciano Berio, Nicholas Deyoe, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Andrew McIntosh, and Wadada Leo Smith.
The album serves as a reflection of the enduring musical collaborations Walters shares with these composers, and seeks to challenge the listeners perception of what the cello is capable of. Scordatura, microtonality, improvisation, and extended techniques transform the serene “swan”into a snarling, roaring creature, as sinister as it is beautiful.
Reviews
"Walters is simply brilliant throughout the disc, and the short printed examples of the scores (other than the Berio) give some idea of the challenges she faced."
https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/booksrecords2/booksrecords2-2
"Walters breathes life into each work with her astounding virtuosity."
http://newclassic.la/2017/11/13/ashley-walters-sweet-anxiety/
"...von Schweinitz's Plainsound-Litany, the recording's longest piece at twenty minutes, proves entrancing when the execution of its slow-motion, double-stopped ebb-and-flow is sustained so flawlessly by Walters."
http://textura.org/archives/d/deyoe_walters.htm
"...her electrifying interpretation, a collision of thwacks, screeching double stops, and stretches of somber melody."
https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/11/27/best-of-bandcamp-contemporary-classical-november-2017/
Featured on Alex Ross' "A Nightafternight playlist."
http://www.therestisnoise.com/2017/10/a-nightafternight-playlist.html