Lalo's Cello Concerto, composed in 1876, is unusual in form, featuring a prelude, an intermezzo with a melodious andantino framing a presto-scherzo, and a finale with a slow introduction leading to a furious saltarello rondo.
Composition History
Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme was dedicated to German cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, who was a leader of cellos in the Moscow Russian Music Society orchestra and a professor at the Moscow conservatoire.
Composer Biography
Lalo, a violinist and violist, was a member of a string quartet that performed German classics when French audiences preferred other music.
Composer Biography
Edouard Lalo, a French composer, was known by his contemporaries as a "wilful symphonist" because he often did the opposite of what was popular at the time.
Composer Biography
As a young boy, Saint-Saëns was an accomplished pianist who knew all thirty-two Beethoven sonatas by heart and could offer them to his recital audiences.
Interpretation
After its first performances, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, the dedicatee of Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations, made a few cuts with Tchaikovsky's consent, and this version is the one performed on this recording.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Camille Saint-Saëns, a French composer, described himself as a "first-rank second-rank composer" and was known for his cool personality and classical forms.
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Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Saint-Saens: Cello Concerto in A minor (The Mercury Masters, Vol. 6)
Debut: Andreas Brantelid
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