Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33

Victoires de la Musique classique & Edison Stichting Awards

“It's all very virtuosic, and Maria Kliegel performs with impressive panache and precision. A most welcome addition to the catalogue.” Gramophone Magazine

“Hearing the two concertos in succession brings it home how much more inspired the First is, with its thrillingly dramatic opening. Moser plays it with overwhelming passion, while firmly controlling tempo and intonation.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2009

“…Moser gives a strong, impassioned account of the Second Concerto… It's in this work that Moser distances himself most noticeably from Maria Kliegel… overall, Moser is more imaginative and alive to the music's dramatic possibilities. And why isn’t the wonderful Suite Op. 16 heard more often?” BBC Music Magazine, April 2009 *****

“The young Danish cellist Andreas Brantelid...makes his impressive recording debut with this combination of three classic 19th-century concertos. His playing - warm and supple of tone - has the lyrical allure, lithe technique and discreet dramatic flair to give this familiar music a fresh impetus, while his orchestral compatriots add a thoroughly integrated range of complementary colours that show a sympathetic response both to the soloist and to the music.” The Telegraph, 21st June 2008

“Andreas Brantelid, another brilliant cellist of the younger generation, plays this attractive group of works with an exceptionally wide tonal range. In the Rococo Variations he is magnetic throughout characterising each variation compellingly, with rubato finely controlled... first-rate sound.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2008

“Here is a very promising cellist indeed. Schønwandt allows Brantelid space to dream in the Schumannm, which he does with supreme lyricism. Where the 20-year old is strongest is in music of limpid grace such as in the second movement of the Saint-Saëns and in the more languid Rococo Variations.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2008 ****