Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129

Jamie Walton is joined by the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of their conductor laureate Vladimir Ashkenazy for this new concerto recording of concertos and orchestral works by Dvorák and Schumann.

Jamie Walton has proved himself as a leading light in UK's musical life; as a performer in his widely praised concerto and sonata recordings, and as a festival director in his work as founder of the North York Moors Festival, which was shortlisted for an RPS Award in 2011.

Jan Vogler is an international and award-winning artist. He won the 2006 European Cultural Prize for his contribution to the cultural community of Germany and the 2002 Echo Award for Best Instrumentalist. Gramophone Magazine praised his ‘spiraling virtuosity’.

The Decca Ansermet Legacy on Eloquence continues to garner the highest plaudits from publications all around the world and the latest batch presents the maestro’s recordings of four key Austro-German Romantics: Schubert, Weber, Mendelssohn and Schumann. This 2-CD set brings together all of Ansermet’s Schumann recordings for Decca.

Ansermet’s Schumann is generally unforced and relaxed, with all but the Piano and Cello Concertos making their first international appearance on CD. In the Piano Concerto – a live radio broadcast recording with Lipatti, newly remastered for this release – Lipatti seems to drive the orchestra to new levels of excitement.

As with many of the (relatively few) concertante works Ansermet recorded, the soloists are drawn from the orchestra – as is the case with Edmund Leloir, principal horn of the OSR from 1952-77, for the Adagio and Allegro, originally for horn and piano and, for this recording, orchestrated by Ansermet. Maurice Gendron, soloist in the Cello Concerto, was one of Jacqueline du Pré’s teachers. The Schumann concerto was one of his specialties; he frequently played it when he was invited to appear with orchestras.

“Gendron's performance is instinct with poetry, and, with Ansermet, he achieves a lucidity of expression which is very taking … artistic integrity and understanding which is utterly remarkable” Gramophone

[Schumann's' Symphony No 1] “…a wonderfully light and graceful performance” Gramophone

[Lipatti's Schumann] “…a deeply moving performance. Lipatti plays con amore, almost as if aware the opportunity might never come again” Gramophone

As part of its series of historic recordings, the audite label presents another notable jewel. On 5 March 1963 two great virtuosos made their Berlin débuts with orchestra in the same concert: the then 18-year-old cellist Jacqueline du Pré and the 22-year-old pianist Bruno Leonardo Gelber.

Du Pré’s interpretation of the Schumann Cello Concerto seems more vivid and contains greater contrasts even than her later recording of the work. With his reading of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto, Gelber communicates a conception of a large-scale work, shaping the inner contrasts and connections without ever losing sight of the overall coherence. For everyone who is interested in the history of interpretation, these two live documents of a great moment in Berlin’s post-war musical life are a must.

This CD forms part of our series “Legendary Recordings” and bears the stamp “1st Master Release”. This term stands for the exceptional quality of audite’s archive releases which are all, without exception, produced using original tapes from the radio archives. Usually, these are the original analogue tapes with tape speeds of up to 76 cm/s which are of astonishingly high quality, even by today’s standards. In addition, the process of re-mastering – executed with professional expertise and sensitivity – reveals hitherto hidden details of the interpretations, creating a sonic image of superior quality. CD releases produced from private recordings of radio broadcasts or old 78rpm records cannot match this level of sound quality.