JEAN-GUIHEN QUEYRAS & BBC SYMPHONY

Hoewel de twintigste eeuw vele indrukwekkende celloconcerten heeft opgeleverd, behoort dat van Edward Elgar ongetwijfeld tot de geliefdste en meest opgenomen. Jean-Guihen Queyras maakte veel indruk met zijn opname van Dvoraks celloconcert en Bachs cellosuites, maar schitterde ook in werk variërend van Boulez tot Vivaldi en de sonates van Britten. Naast een adembenemende vertolking van Elgars celloconcert horen we hier de Rococo-variaties van Tchaikovsky en Dvoraks Waldesruhe, noot voor noot prachtig gespeeld door Queyras en het BBC-orkest onder leiding van Jiri Belohlavek.


Elgar: Cello Concerto

Dvorak:
Waldesruhe (Silent woods) for cello and orchestra, Op. 68 No. 5
Rondo in G minor for cello & orchestra, Op. 94, B. 181
Elgar:
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85
Tchaikovsky:
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiri Belohlavek

"Composed 40 years apart, these two masterpieces from either side of the turn of the last century offer, in their intrinsic contradictions, a fascinating mirror effect. Thus the profound nostalgia of Sir Edward Elgar’s Concerto stands revealed in its lighter themes, which gain the upper hand in the second movement and a fair bit of the finale.

Similarly, the 'Rococo Variations', far from being just an entertaining stylistic exercise, conveys a deep underlying melancholy in the slow variations, while the divine harmonies of Tchaikovsky, who is the supreme master in that respect, reveal a genuine and discreet tenderness. Maestro Belohlávek is a great source of inspiration to me. I find in him a discretion, an accessibility and a profundity that remind me of Pierre Boulez in an entirely different repertory. What’s more, he was an excellent cellist in his early days and so he has our repertory at his fingertips, literally and figuratively. He was able to give me some valuable advice during the recording sessions!" Jean-Guihen Queyras