Beethoven's World - Reicha, Romberg: Concertos for Two Cellos

Conductor Reinhard Goebel’s recording project “Beethoven’s World”, exploring the music of Beethoven’s lesser-known contemporaries, continues with an album that features two concertos for two cellos. Bernhard Romberg’s (1767-1841) Concertino Op. 72 is recorded here for the first time, paired with Antonín Reicha’s (1770-1836) Sinfonia Concertante – a dazzlingly virtuosic work with a clear debt to Beethoven. Goebel conducts the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, and the two cello soloists are Bruno Delepelaire and Stephan Koncz.

Featuring

Bruno Delepelaire
Reinhard Goebel
Stephan Koncz
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern
Anton Reicha
Bernhard Heinrich Romberg

Joseph Leopold Eybler

Did you know?

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Historical Context

The Electorate of Cologne collapsed in 1794 due to advancing French Revolutionary troops, leaving many musicians, including those from the court orchestra, unemployed.

Recording & Production

Antonín Reicha's Sinfonia Concertante in E Minor/E Major for two Cellos and Orchestra and Josef von Eybler's Divertisment für Fasching Dienstag are world premiere recordings on this album.

Composer Biography

Bernhard Romberg, a cellist featured on this album, was internationally acclaimed as the 'Paganini of the Violoncello'.

Historical Context

Louis van Beethoven and Antonín Reicha, both born in 1770, matriculated as philosophy students at the University of Bonn on March 14, 1789.

Compositional Technique

Concertos for two violoncellos are extremely rare, with a lineage tracing back to Vivaldi's Double Concerto in G minor RV531.

Composition History

Antonín Reicha's Double Concerto for two cellos was likely composed between 1804 and 1806 for Anton Kraft and his son Nikolaus, the leading cellists of Prince Lobkowitz's orchestra.