Schumann: Cello Concerto
Raphael Wallfisch (cello), with John York (piano)
Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Niklas Willén
Wallfisch plays the solo part with his customary eloquence and intensity of expression...As always, John York follows the countours of Wallfisch's melodic line with remarkable unanimity of ensemble.
Schumann: Cello Concerto
Raphael Wallfisch (cello), with John York (piano)
Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Niklas Willén
Purchase product
Wallfisch plays the solo part with his customary eloquence and intensity of expression...As always, John York follows the countours of Wallfisch's melodic line with remarkable unanimity of ensemble.
About
The latest work on this CD is the Cello Concerto in A minor from 1850. In the worrying years leading to the composer’s death he was having trouble getting works published but a welcome approach came in 1853 from the publishing house Breitkopf with a fee of 20 Louis d’or for a few of Schumann’s latest pieces, including the cello concerto which they particularly liked. The composer tantalizingly offered them a version with string quintet, and a piano reduction along with a full orchestral score, but the last two never materialized.
Raphael Wallfisch was inspired by this intriguing concept and he asked the distinguished Swiss composer Arthur Lilienthal to a dapt the full score for strings. The result, heard on this recording, and which Raphael has performed many times in concert, lends fresh clarity and lightness to the texture, allowing the soloist even more freedom, especially at the low dynamic levels the composer calls for. Raphael has played it with very small orchestras, ofte n without conductor, which emphasizes even more the pure chamber qualities of this wonderful work. With that in mind it seemed highly appropriate to place the concerto in the context of Schumann’s other wo rks for cello (the Stücke im Volkston), together with the exquisite pieces written for single instrument and piano; ‘songs without words’ in the vein of his friend Felix Mendelssohn.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
November 2014
Wallfisch plays the solo part with his customary eloquence and intensity of expression...As always, John York follows the countours of Wallfisch's melodic line with remarkable unanimity of ensemble.
December 2014
[Wallfisch] offers a convincing performance, phrasing with warmth and agility...Holliger too keeps things stripped to the bone, sweetening the line where necessary, though never to excess, and with a level of clarity that others aim for but achieve only at a price of compromised expressivity...Altogether a worthy continuation of Holliger's Schumann series.
