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Two “Soviet” concertos for cello and orchestra, both written in 1966, that is the idea behind this recording of cellist Maximilian Hornung. Of course, the most famous of the two is and remains Shostakovich's Second Concerto, written for and premiered by Rostropovich. Less famous, except perhaps in Georgia, is the Georgian composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze (1925-1991), himself a renowned virtuoso cellist, who composed an impressive number of chamber music, concertos, symphonies, operas, oratorios, completely ignored by the rest of the world, what a pity. Tsintsadze, as might be thought from a "regional" Soviet composer, often borrows from the folklore of his country, but this is in no way a limitation or a specialization, no more than the way Khatchaturian would sometimes borrow from Armenia. Here is his Concerto No. 2 in five episodes, in which Tsintsadze is certainly quite indebted to Shostakovich, but also to Prokofiev undoubtedly, even to Khatchaturian here and there. The instrumental language is both brilliant and idiomatic. The contrast between his concerto and that of Shostakovich – keeping in mind that they both date from the same year – is striking. The cellist Maximilian Hornung has already performed as a soloist with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Tonhalle Zurich, the London Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the London Philharmonia; in short, many of the most prestigious orchestras in the world. © SM/Qobuz

This release features the best Belgian clarinettist, Roeland Hendrikx, in collaboration with one of the world’s oldest and finest orchestras, the London Philharmonic. Hendrikx, incidentally, is the first Belgian virtuoso to team up with this illustrious ensemble. On the programme is the most famous clarinet concerto (Mozart’s), an undeservedly lesser known concerto (Bruch’s Double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola), and an erroneously forgotten one (by Gerald Finzi). All three concertos are more appropriately dubbed “clarinettist” concertos instead of clarinet concertos: more than any other instrument, the clarinet is a medium for personal dedication to specific virtuosi. Mozart created his clarinet concerto for Anton Stadler, while Max Bruch dedicated his (double) concerto to his son Max Felix. In some cases, however, the link between piece and performer is even stronger. Hendrikx had front row access to Gerald Finzi’s delicately autumnal concerto via his teacher Thea King, doyenne of British clarinettists and spouse of Frederick Thurston, who premiered the Finzi-concerto in 1949. According to Hendrikx, “Thea must have witnessed the creation process. In her own hand, she scribbled helpful recommendations in my score, which may have been passed on from Thurston, if not from Finzi himself”. But there is more. On 27 April 1998, Thea King bequeathed to Hendrikx the letters Finzi had written to her late husband between 1948 and 1953: they document the first ideas for the concerto, its genesis, and its growing post-premiere fame. These letters enable Hendrikx to go beyond the notes of the concerto, meet the protagonists, and do some sightseeing in the music’s spatiotemporal context. The Finzi-Thurston letters are extensively dealt with in the liner notes to this album, which is a veritable tribute to the concert clarinet: Hendrikx and the London Philharmonic Orchestra pay homage to a genre, its gems, and its genius performers. © EPR-Classic

It is particularly fortunate to see Franco-German cellist Nicolas Altstaedt on a record label that will finally allow him to nurture his whimsical personality and insatiable curiosity on a long term basis, he who just a few years ago produced one of the most dazzling recordings of the Haydn Concertos for the Genuin label. For this first album on the Channel Classics label he takes us on a journey through the former Soviet bloc with three major figures of the twentieth century: Dmitri Shostakovich, Mieczyslaw Weinberg and Witold Lutoslawski. Do not expect an avalanche of virtuoso gimmicks from this team: it's all about the lyrical and surprisingly playful section of Shostakovich's Concerto No.1, as well as the infinitely secretive and mysterious Weinberg piece, as they were intended. An amazing album, and one which you should grab with both hands. Though this is not visible on the cover, in addition to Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No.1 and Mieczyslaw Weinberg's piece, the album also features Witold Lutoslawski's Little Suite. The three pieces were written roughly at the same time: 1959 for Shostakovich, 1951 for Lutoslawski, 1948 for Weinberg - who had to wait for Stalin's death to reveal his work, since both he and Shostakovitch were under the dictator's surveillance and their works could have earned them a stay in Siberia, or maybe even a wooden coffin. The two Concertos share some similarities: Rostropovich arranged both, and the two composers' mutual influences are clearly identifiable on many occasions - Weinberg saw Shostakovich as a mentor, but in fact they often influenced each other. This did not prevent the composers of writing immediately recognizable music! By way of a "breathing pause", the LutosÅ‚awski's Petite Suite consists of four delicious miniatures taken from popular tunes of the Rzeszów region in southern Poland. The work was initially considered "light music," but when Lutoslawski appropriates the genre we are immediately seized by this masterpiece. Jean Françaix or Alexandre Tansman might have written something similar. © SM/Qobuz