Dvorak Cello Concerto

When you think of the genre of the concerto, you might be
thinking of something like this: virtuoso fireworks, perhaps over
romantic gestures designed simply to show the soloist off, and a
rather pedestrian orchestral part, giving the soloist all of the
spotlight while the conductor and orchestra are mere
accompanists.  Of course, this is a huge generalization and
it isn’t true about many concertos.  But of all of the
concertos that I conduct regularly, and hear regularly, there is
one that always stands out as the exception to the rule: Dvorak’s
Cello Concerto.  The Dvorak deserves every bit of popularity
it has received over the years. In fact, you could argue that it
is THE perfect concerto.  It's enjoyable to play, perfectly
written for the cello, enjoyable to listen to, and enjoyable to
accompany for the orchestra. It has everything, which makes it
all the more shocking to think that before Dvorak wrote the
piece, he didn’t even think of the cello as a suitable instrument
for a solo piece!   But once convinced of the cello’s
viability as a solo instrument, Dvorak gave everything to to the
piece. We’ll talk all about the sometimes tragic history behind
the writing of the concerto, the specific difficulties it places
on the cellist, the conductor, and the orchestra, and of course,
go through the piece in detail, pointing out all the different
facets that result in the Dvorak being perhaps the greatest of
all concertos. Join us!


Cellist: Miklos Perenyi