Schoeck Cello Concerto
Desirable debut from a young cellist with a work that deserves recognition
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Othmar Schoeck
Label: BIS
Magazine Review Date: 13/2007
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 62
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: BIS-CD1597
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra |
Othmar Schoeck, Composer
Christian Poltéra, Cello Christian Poltéra, Cello Malmö Symphony Orchestra Othmar Schoeck, Composer Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen, Conductor |
Sonata for Cello and Piano |
Othmar Schoeck, Composer
Christian Poltéra, Cello Julius Drake, Piano Othmar Schoeck, Composer |
(3) Lieder |
Othmar Schoeck, Composer
Christian Poltéra, Cello Julius Drake, Piano Othmar Schoeck, Composer |
(Das) Stille Leuchten, Movement: Der Reisebecher |
Othmar Schoeck, Composer
Christian Poltéra, Cello Julius Drake, Piano Othmar Schoeck, Composer |
(12) Lieder, Movement: Winternacht |
Othmar Schoeck, Composer
Christian Poltéra, Cello Julius Drake, Piano Othmar Schoeck, Composer |
(12) Lieder, Movement: Nachklang |
Othmar Schoeck, Composer
Christian Poltéra, Cello Julius Drake, Piano Othmar Schoeck, Composer |
(12) Lieder, Movement: Nacht |
Othmar Schoeck, Composer
Christian Poltéra, Cello Julius Drake, Piano Othmar Schoeck, Composer |
(5) Lieder, Movement: Epigramm |
Othmar Schoeck, Composer
Christian Poltéra, Cello Julius Drake, Piano Othmar Schoeck, Composer |
Author: kYlzrO1BaC7A
His output dominated by operas and Lieder, Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) wrote few large-scale orchestral and chamber works. Of his three concertos, that for cello (1947) is among his last pieces and exudes an autumnal spirit. Its opening Allegro is among the composer’s most successful sonata movements, generating no mean rhythmic momentum in spite of its predilection for long-breathed melodic lines, and purposefully sustaining its considerable length. The slow movement is the emotional heart – a luminous threnody in which the interplay of cello and strings is particularly felicitous. A brief but animated Scherzo and a finale that recalls earlier themes, while maintaining impetus on the way to a decisive conclusion, complete a work that ought to find its way into the still-limited cello canon now the Schumann concerto has become firmly established.
Christian Poltéra taps its ruminative depths unerringly and receives sensitive support from the Malmö Symphony strings under the direction of Tuomas Ollila. Julius Drake is equally responsive in the remaining pieces. The Cello Sonata remained incomplete at Schoeck’s death: if its first movement evinces a certain weariness, the pert Scherzo and songful Andantino suggest a work likely to become more than the sum of its parts. The song transcriptions (presumably by Poltéra) are idiomatically done; that of the winsome Nachklang deserves to be an encore in every cellist’s repertoire. Warmly spacious sound and informative booklet-notes round out this desirable debut from a highly promising cellist.
Christian Poltéra taps its ruminative depths unerringly and receives sensitive support from the Malmö Symphony strings under the direction of Tuomas Ollila. Julius Drake is equally responsive in the remaining pieces. The Cello Sonata remained incomplete at Schoeck’s death: if its first movement evinces a certain weariness, the pert Scherzo and songful Andantino suggest a work likely to become more than the sum of its parts. The song transcriptions (presumably by Poltéra) are idiomatically done; that of the winsome Nachklang deserves to be an encore in every cellist’s repertoire. Warmly spacious sound and informative booklet-notes round out this desirable debut from a highly promising cellist.
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