The Romantic Cello Concerto - 7
WILHELM FITZENHAGEN (1848-1890): Cello Concertos No. 1 in B Minor, Op. and No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 4 “Fantastique”, Ballade, Op. 10, Resignation, Op. 8, PETER TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893): Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 (arr. Fitzenhagen).Catalogue Number: 10R005
Label: Hyperion
Reference: CDA 68063
Format: CD
Price: $18.98
Description: Back in February of 2012, we offered a disc that had the second concerto coupled with 47 minutes of cello-and-piano Fitzenhagen. Now we get what are apparently his complete works for cello and orchestra: the first concerto (1870) is, like the second one of 1871, a single-movement work in three sections lasting 17-20 minutes. Melting lyricism in slow introductions and slow movements and bright, fast and virtuosic material in the fast ones. No Romantic longeurs here. Nor in the Ballade (1875) which is also 17 minutes long and is effectively a third concerto but with more slow music and a greater atmosphere of seriousness, as also in the four-minute Resignation. Alban Gerhardt (cello), Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin; Stefan Blunier.