I’ve been impressed with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra principal cello Daniel Lee since he got here. After last night’s amazing performance in Golijov’s Azul, I was pleased to get a copy of Lee’s 2005 Decca recording of the Brahms Cello Sonatas (Decca DD7013/473 849-2; Daniel Lee, cello; Robert Koenig, piano) It’s hard to imagine a rendition more soulful or technically adept.

This is a Korean edition, and reading the liner notes will probably be a challenge. The performance, however, needs no translation.

The only place you can find it around here is in the Powell Symphony Hall gift shop; the SLSO imported it for the opening weekend concerts. (There are still some autographed copies available.)

Lee will be making another recording - of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1 with the Czech Philharmonic at Dvorák Hall, in December 2009, for Sony Music. He’ll be absent from the principal cello’s chair for a while this spring, as he makes a recital tour of Asia in March 2010, and performs his recital debut at Merkin Hall in New York City on April 3, 2010.

And check out his gorgeous new (to him) 1706 Goffriller cello; it has an incredible tone.