“I have played Robert’s violoncello concerto through again, thus giving myself a truly musical and happy hour. The Romantic quality, the vivacity, the freshness and humour, also the highly interesting interweaving of violoncello and orchestra are indeed wholly ravishing, and what euphony and deep feeling one finds in all the melodic passages!”
Clara schumann
Unfortunately, Clara’s unstinting praise of her husband’s concerto – which, admittedly, might be viewed as slightly biased – failed to carry the day, and it wasn’t until Pablo Casals championed the work seventy or so years after its composition that it entered the solo cello repertoire (where it stayed).
Robert Schumann:
Cello Concerto in a, Op. 129
Nicht zu Schnell (0:04)
Langsam (10:59)
Sehr Lebharft (14:47)
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The Art of Listening 