Nino Rota - Cello Concertos (Dmitry Yablonsky)

Information

Composer: Nino Rota

• Cello Concerto No. 1
• Cello Concerto No. 2

Dmitry Yablonsky, cello

I Virtuosi Italiani

Daniel Boico, conductor

Date: 2001

Label: Chandos

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Review

What a difference a year makes! In 1972, Rota (1911-79) wrote, to my mind, a rather undistinguished cello concerto; the following year he completes an absolute gem. Both are recorded here for the first time. Rota’s claim to fame is his film scores; as we have the opportunity to sample his concert works, then the picture of him is enlarged and he can be re-assessed.

Of these concertos, the first lacks a truly memorable idea; Rota’s neo-classical stance gets in a rut, tense expression not quite sitting with the concerto’s modest aims. Gestures and soloistic scurrying-around inform the first movement; the second is more mood-painting than shapely phrase; the last movement’s rapidity and lyrical second subject fleetingly engage but in a rather trite way.

The second concerto is quite wonderful. Sunny and graceful, Rota immediately bewitches with a coursing rhythm and a soaring melodic profile that continues with witty orchestral exchanges. The unexpected entrance of the soloist is beautifully managed; throughout this charming first movement, Rota’s poetic refinement makes the most of some lovely ideas, the Mozartian springboard (from the G major violin concerto, K216) a constant inspiration.

An extended theme and variations on an elegant tune follows; the commentaries are wide-ranging and inventive – it’s Rota’s resourcefulness (wit to pathos) that is constantly engaging. The skittish finale is the perfect foil to the earlier humour and warmth. This delightful discovery has the most captivating demeanour, lightly and entrancingly scored. The sympathetic performances are excellently recorded.

— Colin Anderson

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Nino Rota (3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and educator, internationally acclaimed for his film scores. He is best known for his collaborations with Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti, as well as for scoring The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, the latter earning him an Academy Award. Over a 46-year career, Rota composed more than 150 film scores, in addition to operas, ballets, orchestral and chamber works, including a notable concerto for strings. He also wrote music for theatre and served for nearly three decades as director of the Liceo Musicale in Bari.

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Dmitry Yablonsky (born 1962) is a Russian classical cellist and conductor. He studied with Lorne Munroe and Zara Nelsova at the Juilliard School of Music, and with Aldo Parisot at Yale University. As a cellist he has played in such venues as Carnegie Hall, La Scala, Moscow Great Hall, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall, Taiwan National Hall, Teatre Mogador, Cite de la Musique, and Louvre. For several years Yablonsky has been Principal Guest Conductor of Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. He has made more than 70 recordings as conductor and cellist for Naxos, Erato-Warner, Chandos, Belair Music, Sonora, Connoisseur Society.

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