034571177052

Prokofiev: Cello Concerto & Symphony-concerto

Alban Gerhardt; Andrew Litton: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

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Format: CD

Cat No: CDA67705

Release Date:  01 September 2009

Label:  Hyperion Records Ltd

Packaging Type:  Jewel Case

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  034571177052

Genres:  Classical  Orchestral  

  • Description

    The two works recorded here have an interestingly close musical relationship that is belied by their radically different sound-worlds. Prokofiev’s first work for cello and orchestra was abandoned by the composer after an unsuccesful premiere, and the full score remained unpublished for years. However, a rising star barely in his twenties, Mstislav Rostropovich, found a copy with piano accompaniment and impressed the composer with his performance in December 1947. As Rostropovich remembered from their backstage encounter: ‘Prokofiev told me that after listening carefully to the Concerto he had decided to rewrite it. I reminded him of this each time I met him after that, but without success.’ What followed, in fact, was a completely new work—the Sonata for cello and piano Op 119—and the premiere of that, with Rostropovich eloquently partnered by Sviatoslav Richter (a recording survives), finally persuaded the now-ailing composer to the dramatic revision of the original Concerto. The resulting Symphony-Concerto is now acknowledged as one of the composer’s late masterpieces.
    The young German virtuoso Alban Gerhardt was the soloist in a performance at the BBC Proms in 2008 that convinced a loudly appreciative audience of the merits of this work.
    It has been recorded here with the first verson, Cello Concerto No 1, a work of undeniable importance to scholars and music-lovers alike. Andrew Litton conducts the Bergen Symphony Orchestra in their second disc for Hyperion.

  • Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. 1: Andante
      • 2. 2: Allegro Giusto
      • 3. 3: Tema. Allegro - Interludio. L'istesso Tempo - Variations 1-3 - Cadenza - Interludio II - Variatio
      • 4. 1: Andante
      • 5. 2: Allegro Giusto - Cadenza - Meno Mosso - Più Animato - Meno Mosso - Allegro Assai
      • 6. 3: Andante Con Moto - Allegretto, Poco Meno Mosso - Allegro Marcato - Poco Meno Mosso