Saturday, June 25, 2011

Davidoff, Carl - Cello Concertos 1 & 2 - Wenn-Sinn Yang, Mikkelsen, Latvian NSO

 


 

 

 

 

Review:

All five of nineteenth century Russian-Latvian cellist and composer Carl Davidoff's cello concerti are important and valuable concert works for the cello, and you'd never know that to the extent they have been recorded. The Concerto No. 2 in A minor has fared the best at four recordings, whereas Concerto No. 1 in B minor enjoys its second recording in this fine CPO performance by Wen-Sinn Yang and the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra under Terje Mikkelsen. This recording of the first two fits the bill and is a superb outing for cellist Wenn-Sinn Yang.Karl Davidoff CPO's Carl Davidoff: Cello Concertos 1& 2 is filled out with a familiar cello warhorse, Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, which makes perfect sense; although Davidoff did not premiere it, he was the dedicatee of Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien. Tchaikovsky's Variations, and his concerto writing as a whole, bears a strong similarity to Davidoff's approach to concerti in terms of thematic development and the use of certain kinds of transitional devices. That is one reason the neglect of these works is so unfathomable; they hit the highpoints of high romantic style, are melodious and serious, and give the cellist plenty of virtuosic stuff to show off with. Yang certainly does the job; his playing is fleet, yet fluid, and his dedication to this music shows.

This really should be your first choice for these two Davidoff concerti. This is an excellent disc that should be sought out with urgency by devotees of the cello.

 

flac, scans

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