Bohuslav Martinů - Cello Concertos (Raphael Wallfisch)

Information

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů

1. (01) Cello Concerto No. 1, H. 196
2. (04) Cello Concerto No. 2, H. 304
3. (07) Concertino for cello, wind & brass ensemble, percussion & piano in C minor, H. 143

Raphael Wallfisch, cello
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek, conductor

Date: 1992
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%209015

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Review

In the 1990s Chandos's association with the Czech PO and Jiří Bĕlohlávek bore promising fruit but not a whole tree's worth. As it is we can be delighted with Bĕlohlávek’s Martinů symphonies 1, 4 and 6 as well as this generous and logically arranged disc of the two cello concertos and the neo-classical Concertino. Will we ever see the cycle completed, I wonder? Of course Chandos have the Bryden Thomson six but this presence is unlikely to be an obstacle to a company of Chandos's determination. The Second Concerto is a product of the composer’s high-tide late maturity and will be well known to longtimeMartinů fans from the 1960s Saša Večtomov Supraphon LP. The First Concerto, however it may have sounded when first written in 1930 (with prominent part for solo piano) and then after first revision in 1939, by 1955 had been wrought with many touches familiar from the 1940s onwards.

The Concertino sounds well in the extremely sonorous acoustic of Prague Castle rather than the Rudolphinum. Its neo-classical tongue-poking takes on a warmer tone. Perhaps some will find that inimical to the work's stripped-to-essentials attitude. It appealed strongly to me. Listen to the piccolo's rudely blown fanfares at 7.49. This time I warmed to the work more than I had to any previous version.

In the two numbered Cello Concertos Bĕlohlávek lacks the extreme rhythmic bite and chatter of Neumann on Supraphon but only by a hair's breadth. There are compensating privileges to be found in the deep ample mahogany sound of Wallfisch's cello. In fact the Chandos is a clear winner when matched up against the Kontrapunkt (Fukačová) and the Supraphon (May). The Danish version is an exact match for coupling but lacks the bite and affluence of the Chandos. The Supraphon has plenty of bite but the glare of the early digital recording (1981) does not help its case. It also lacks the Concertino - a work worth having.

The good notes are by a regular for several companies including Sony: Graham Melville-Mason.

The Chandos disc is first choice for the Martinů Cello Concertos.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

More reviews: 

http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/martinu-cello-concertos-cello-concertino-mr0002484046

http://www.amazon.com/Cello-Concertos-Raphael-Wallfisch/dp/B002BZET6S

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Bohuslav Martinů (December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. Martinů began as a violinist of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. In the early 1930s he found his main font for compositional style, the neo-classical as developed by Stravinsky. With this, he expanded to become a prolific composer, who wrote almost 400 pieces, included 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He is compared with Prokofiev and Bartók in his innovative incorporation of Central European ethnomusicology into his music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohuslav_Martin%C5%AF

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Raphael Wallfisch (born 15 June 1953, London) is one of the leading English cellists of his generation. Wallfisch studied with Amaryllis Fleming, Derek Simpson, Amadeo Baldovino and Gregor Piatigorsky. His vast repertory ranges from 19th century staples by Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Dvorák to 20th century standards by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Respighi and Barber. He has also focused much attention on works by British composers such as Elgar, Delius, Bax, Maxwell Davies, MacMillan, Simpson, and Tavener. Wallfisch has recorded extensively for many labels, including Chandos, Nimbus, and Naxos.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/raphael-wallfisch-mn0002030011/biography

http://www.raphaelwallfisch.com/?page_id=35

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