Dvořák: Cello Concerto

Antonin Dvořák
(http://hornconcerto.net/?p=920)
no copyright infringement intended

Dvořák's decision to write a cello concerto came as a surprise firstly to himself: according to his friends, the composer had hold reservations on using the cello as solo part. He was fond of the middle register, but complained about a nasal high register and a mumbling bass. Dvořák decided to start the work after hearing another cello concerto, composed by Victor Herbert.

Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191
Leonard Rose, Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, 1964
1. Allegro (B minor then B major)
2. Adagio ma non troppo (G major)
3. Finale: Allegro moderato – Andante – Allegro vivo (B minor then B major)
(video by viool7)

I was in Philadelphia a number of times; surely I wasn't there in 1964, when Leonard Rose was playing Dvořák's Cello Concerto. It was in the old Academy of Music. They replaced it in 2000 with a new construction: the Kimmel Center where I was only once, on December 31st of 2002. It was, like in any other day of Christmas period, The Nutcracker. Then I took the train toward NY, where I was to spend my New Year's Eve. The train was full of young people from all New Jersey towns, excited about spending in Manhattan the night between two years. I had mixed feelings: while contaminated by their enthusiasm, I was thinking at the intricacies of a love story that had just shown its absurd dimensions. But that's another story.


(Dvořák)

(Philadelphia)