BERTHOLD GOLDSCHMIDT (1903-1996): Cello Concerto, FRANZ REIZENSTEIN (1911-1968): Cello Concerto in G.

Description: Although both men were German Jews who escaped to England in 1934 and 1935, Reizenstein had a much bigger career due to his young age when arriving which allowed him to study in England and be perceived as a home-grown article while the older Goldschmidt was seen as a “German import”. The notes to this release are by Michael Haas whom you may recall as the producer of Decca’s “Entartete Musik” series of the 1990s and are full of intersting facts and interpretations, shedding new light on both compposers. Reizenstein’s concerto (35 minutes in three movements), notable as much for its lyricism as its drama, was written as early as 1936 but revised in 1948 and it shows the influence of both his teachers: Hindemith (before he left Germany) and Vaughan Williams (the craggy VW, not the pastoral one!). Goldschmidt’s comes from the late 1940s and is one of his very last works before a 25-year period of silence. Its relaxed and serenade-like first movement is followed by a Caprice mélancolique, a Quasi sarabande and a Tarentella finale, in all 21 minutes of melodic approachability with just a few dashes of sharpness to remind us that, though he was a student of Schreker and did much to promote Mahler’s music in England, he was not a hide-bound Romantic. Raphael Wallfisch (cello), Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra; Nicholas Milton.