Johannes Moser - Elgar & Tchaikovsky: Cello Works (2017)

The profoundly moving, elegiac lyricism of Elgar and the wistful charm and brilliance of Tchaikovsky are on full display in this irresistible new release from PENTATONE played with consummate virtuosity by the German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Andrew Manze. Composed at the end of the First World War, Elgar’s powerful Cello Concerto in E minor is one of his best-loved and most deeply-felt works. The soloist’s wrenching chords which open the work announce a mood of profound resignation and loss; gone is the youthful swagger of his earlier works, replaced instead with lonely introspection and longing, especially in the sublimely beautiful Adagio. The cello is given free rein in the vigorous final movement but the opening mood prevails as an anguished outburst from the cello brings the work to a close.

No such dejection hangs over Tchaikovsky’s delightful Variations on a Rococo Theme which ooze elegance, ineffable charm and daring displays of technical brilliance. While the Pezzo capriccioso finds Tchaikovsky in a more restrained mood, with the Nocturne and Andante Cantabile he wears his romantic heart full on his sleeve. The great Russian writer Leon Tolstoy is said to have wept when he heard the Andante Cantabile and its sumptuous theme shows Tchaikovsky’s unerring gift for haunting melodies. It remains a special gem in the repertoire.

The cellist Johannes Moser is no stranger to these works. Winner of the top prize at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition, he was also awarded the Special Prize for his interpretation of the Variations on a Rococo Theme.
Described by Gramophone as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists” and by the LA Times as a musician who “…connects with the audience in a way that only great artists do”, this is Moser’s third outing for PENTATONE.

His first album of concertos by Dvořák and Lalo was widely praised for his “performance of enormous flair and effervescence” (BBC Music Magazine) and “his dazzling virtuosity, free, passionate phrasing and immense energy … that recalls Pablo Casals’ iconic 1937 recording” (Strings).

TRACKLIST

01. Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: I. Adagio-Moderato
02. Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: II. Lento-Allegro molto
03. Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: III. Adagio
04. Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: IV. Allegro-Moderato-Allegro ma non troppo
05. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Thema. Moderato assai quasi andante
06. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Theme. Moderato simplice
07. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Var. 1, Tempo della thema
08. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Var. 2, Tempo della thema
09. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Var. 3, Andante
10. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Var. 4, Allegro vivo
11. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Var. 5, Andante grazioso
12. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Var. 6, Allegro moderato
13. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Var. 7, Andante sostenuto
14. Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33, TH 57 (Original Version): Var. 8 & Coda. Allegro moderato con anima
15. 6 Morceaux, Op. 19, TH 133: No. 4, Nocturne (Version for Cello & Orchestra)
16. String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11, TH 111: II. Andante cantabile (Version for Cello & String Orchestra)
17. Pezzo capriccioso in B Minor, Op. 62, TH 62