VICTOR HERBERT Cello Concertos
Mark Kosower, Cello
Ulster Orchestra / JoAnn Falletta
Naxos 8.573517 / ****1/2
The
Dublin-born American composer Victor Herbert (1859-1924) was a virtuoso cellist
and bandleader before making his fame by writing musicals such as Babes In
Toyland. His two cello concertos deserve to be heard mostly because they
are filled with good memorable tunes besides being totally concert-worthy
vehicles for cello virtuosos.
The
First Cello Concerto in D major (1884) is slightly longer and in the
traditional three-movement form that is shared by most Romantic concertos. His Second
Cello Concerto in E minor (1894) is rather more famous, mostly because it
had given the great Bohemian composer Antonin Dvorak, then living in the
States, ideas about writing his own cello concerto. The cyclical form with
recurring themes contrasting the dramatic and lyrical, within three connected
sections, makes it a concentrated but absorbing listen.
The
likes of Yo-Yo Ma and Gautier Capucon have recorded it, both coupled with the
Dvorak Cello Concerto. American cellist Mark Kosower is their equal and
his disc provides further opportunities to explore unfamiliar territory. The
splendid Ulster Orchestra directed by JoAnn Falletta adds Herbert's Irish
Rhapsody (1892) which strings together popular Irish melodies of the time
to glorious effect.
No comments:
Post a Comment