Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante, Tcherepnin: Suite for Cello, Crumb: Sonata for Cello

Featuring

Vassily Sinaisky
Pieter Wispelwey
Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest
Sergei Prokofiev
Alexander Tcherepnin
George Crumb

Did you know?

1/7

Composer's Artistic Vision

George Crumb, an American composer, believed that "music surpasses even language in its power to mirror the innermost recesses of the human soul."

Composition History

The Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125, is a drastic revision of Prokofiev's earlier First Cello Concerto, Op. 58, which initially met with an indifferent reception.

Composition History

Prokofiev composed the Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125, and the Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 119, for his close friend, the renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

Performer Biography

Pieter Wispelwey, the cellist on this recording, was the first cellist ever to receive the Netherlands Music Prize in 1992, an award for the most promising young musician in the Netherlands.

Composer Biography

Alexander Tcherepnin, whose father Nikolai studied with Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov, grew up in a highly musical household visited by figures like Rimski-Korsakov and Stravinsky.

Compositional Technique

The Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125, is considered one of the most difficult works in the cello repertoire, demanding the instrument's full range and a variety of advanced techniques.

Composer Biography

Sergei Prokofiev, once known as the "enfant terrible" of Russian music, returned to his homeland in 1933 after a fifteen-year voluntary exile, only to face the challenges of the Soviet regime.