Klengel: Cello Concertos

Album review

While not many listeners in the present day may remember the name Julius Klengel, his name was virtually synonymous with the cello less than 100 years ago. The majority of Klengel's career centered around either performing -- as principal cellist of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, as a chamber musician, or as a soloist -- or pedagogy. In fact, he was one of the most sought-after teachers of his time, and his numerous students include the likes of Feuermann and Piatigorsky. Klengel also composed a great deal of music for the cello, especially pedagogical works. His performance works, including the three concertos heard on this disc, are infrequently played. Compositionally, they are generally enjoyable works but not terribly original or moving. The fiendishly difficult solo parts, however, speak volumes to Klengel's immense technical abilities on his instruments. Heard on this CPO album are cellists Xenia Jankovic and Christoph Richter. Both artists, in their respective performances of their solo concertos, deliver technically superb and musically interesting interpretations. The highlight of the album, however, is the double concerto, where Jankovic and Richter sound as if they are a single instrument being played by one incredible musician. Intonation is astonishingly precise, especially given the technical demands that Klengel makes of the performers. Though not as musically enriching as some of the more "standard" concertos in the repertoire, these performances are completely riveting and are certainly worthy of addition to most any collection.
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