The Romantic Cello Concerto, Vol. 7: Fitzenhagen, Tchaikovsky

Alban Gerhardt / Stefan Blunier / Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

(CD - Hyperion #CDA 68063)

Review by James Manheim

Cellists bemoaning the lack of solo repertory for their instrument might check out this release of music by Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, one of the best-known cellists of the late 19th century. He moved to Moscow and became the dedicatee of Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello and orchestra, Op. 33. He also revised the work, discarding one variation and reordering the rest; this was a good deal more than Tchaikovsky had asked him to do, and his work was questioned in Tchaikovsky's own time. Nevertheless, the Fitzenhagen version of the work, heard here, remains the most commonly heard one today, and the question of whether he did Tchaikovsky a service remains an open one. The work gets an energetic performance from cellist Alban Gerhardt and the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Stefan Blunier, but more interesting perhaps are the Fitzenhagen originals on the program. He was apparently a self-taught composer, but the two cello concertos heard here combine absolutely idiomatic instrumental writing with compact, well-shaped forms defined by distinctive melodies. Either could profitably be combined with Schumann's or Dvorák's cello concertos in concert, and the two shorter works that round out the album have beautiful writing as well, combining the solo cello with small groups of winds. Recommended for anyone even slightly interested in Romantic music for the cello.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
Cello Concerto No. 1 in B minor Op. 2
1 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 07:53 Amazon
2 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 03:22 Amazon
3 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 05:24 Amazon
Cello Concerto No. 2 in A minor Op. 4 'Fantastique'
4 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 06:56 Amazon
5 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 04:13 Amazon
6 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 08:12 Amazon
Variations on a Rococo theme Op. 33
7 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 00:50 Amazon
8 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 01:29 Amazon
9 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 00:49 Amazon
10 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 01:18 Amazon
11 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 03:29 Amazon
12 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 01:49 Amazon
13 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 03:20 Amazon
14 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 02:29 Amazon
15 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 02:14 Amazon
16 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 17:05 Amazon
17 Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Stefan Blunier / Alban Gerhardt 03:59 Amazon
blue highlight denotes track pick