BOCCHERINI: Cello Concertos, Vol. 3

Northern Chamber Orchestra, Wallfisch, Raphael, Ward, Nicholas

8.557589

The twelfth cello concerto was only discovered in 1987 in a library in Naples. The twelve known cello concertos are all probably quite youthful works, written before he settled in Madrid. These works exploit virtuoso technique, a prominent feature of which is the use of extremely fast passage-work in the very highest registers of the instrument, sometimes with additional double-stopping to provide the performer with even greater difficulties. The recently discovered Concerto No. 12 in E flat major, the first modern performance of which was given in Vienna in 1987, may be of a later date (possibly 1772) than the other concertos. Whether this be the case or not, the music itself, less encumbered with ornamental detail, hints at a movement away from rococo mannerisms towards the clearer lines of the later classical style. In the first movement Boccherini achieves a longer arching phrase articulated through internal development of the simpler melodic line. The cello writing is still fearsomely high but virtuosity does not obtrude itself here or obscure the structural progress of the music. The Largo is Boccherini at his most emotionally intense. The orchestral introduction with its dotted rhythms and striking contrasts of piano and forte is followed by a heartfelt cantilena for the cello. The final Allegro is a delightful Rondo, its principal theme simple and unpretentious, almost like a popular tune. The textures here are light and airy and there is also a clarity and inevitability about the form with delicate harmonic shadings in the episodes and, unusually but most aptly in this case, no cadenza to interrupt this movement’s easy flow towards its happy conclusion.

CD x 1

Naxos

2005-01-03

747313258925