Henri Vieuxtemps; Eugène Ysaÿe - Cello Concertos (Alban Gerhardt)

Information

Composer: Henri Vieuxtemps; Eugène Ysaÿe

• Vieuxtemps - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 46
• Vieuxtemps - Cello Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 50
• Ysaÿe - Méditation in B minor "Poème", Op. 16
• Ysaÿe - Sérénade in A major, Op. 22

Alban Gerhardt, cello

Royal Flemish Philharmonic

Josep Caballé-Domenech, conductor

Date: 2013

Label: Hyperion

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Review

The sixth volume of Hyperion’s ‘Romantic Cello Concerto’ series lights upon two works by the celebrated 19th-century Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps. Championed here by Alban Gerhardt, the music shows that Vieuxtemps, perhaps more familiar through his seven violin concertos, possessed also a sensibility for the sonority, technical scope and colour spectrum of the cello. If the First Concerto of 1876 was apparently composed without any particular cellist in mind, the Second of a couple of years later was conceived for Joseph Servais (1850 85), whose father François (1807 66) was responsible for putting the Belgian cello school on the map much as Vieuxtemps did for the violin. If the two cello concertos are not perhaps as exploratory in terms of technique and structure as some of Vieuxtemps’s violin concertos, they certainly know their way round the cello and are characterised by strength of ideas, a supple expressiveness and a sure dramatic instinct. So much so that it is hard to see why they have not entered the mainstream repertoire in the same way as, say, the Saint-Saëns concertos have.

Heinrich Schiff made the first recording of the Vieuxtemps concertos back in the 1980s, since when nobody else seems to have risen to the challenge until now; but these performances by Gerhardt with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under Josep Caballé-Domenech never fail to hold one’s attention. The fill-ups are by the Vieuxtemps pupil Eugène Ysaÿe – more cello music by a violinist but in the Méditation and Sérénade revealing a confident, alluring touch.

— Geoffrey Norris

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Henry Vieuxtemps (17 February 1820 – 6 June 1881) was a Belgian violinist and composer. A prodigy, he studied with Charles Auguste de Bériot in Brussels, Simon Sechter in Vienna and Anton Reicha in Paris before touring extensively across Europe and the United States. He held teaching positions in St. Petersburg and Brussels. Renowned for his exceptional technical precision and rich tone, Vieuxtemps became one of the leading virtuosos of the 19th century, and his style was widely emulated. As a composer, he was equally innovative, with his violin concertos making important contributions to the development of the form.

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Eugène Ysaÿe (16 July 1858 – 12 May 1931) was a Belgian violin virtuoso, composer and conductor. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Liège and later with Henryk Wieniawski and Henri Vieuxtemps. Ysaÿe gained international recognition through extensive tours and was professor of violin at the Brussels Conservatory from 1886 to 1897. Renowned for his technical brilliance, expressive playing, and innovative use of vibrato, he influenced and inspired numerous prominent composers. His most celebrated compositions include six sonatas for solo violin, alongside concertos, chamber works, and the opera Piér li Houïen.

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Alban Gerhardt (born 25 May 1969) is a German cellist. He won top prizes in several competitions including the 1990 ARD International Music Competition in Munich. His international career was launched in 1991 when he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov. Since then Gerhardt has been regularly appearing with many of the world's leading orchestras, conductors and artists. Among his awards are three ECHO Klassik Awards (1998, 2003 & 2009), as well as ICMA and MIDEM Classic awards. His discography can be found on Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion and Chandos Records.

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