I think this work - on the new Hungaroton CD - deserves a thread all of its own. Why? Because I have no hesitation in hailing it as a masterpiece of the first order, and by far the best thing I have heard by Moór.
Some more information about the piece: it dates from 1906 and was dedicated to Casals. It's in four movements, with an extremely powerful first movement followed by a fleet-footed Presto ma non troppo, a deeply soulful, questing Adagio and a finale which returns to the dynamic mood of the opening. It is also intensely memorable. The idiom is clearly post-Brahmsian; some might even say Elgarian in its melancholy and intensity.
I have rarely come across such a powerful unfamiliar work as this. It is superbly presented here. Cellists should be queuing up to play it and all lovers of fine late-romantic music should rush out and purchase the CD - or stay in and make a few clicks on the appropriate website...
Unless someone somewhere has extra information handy (I think even the Stiftung mostly deals only in publication dates for published works, though it's unclear), I think 1906 there means published in 1906, though- I'm not sure...? :D Glad to hear this; his Op.61 concerto (in E), published 1905, is intriguing (from score...) -
btw I notice one can hear sound samples from the new CD at Hungaroton's own website here (http://www.hungarotonmusic.com/classical/cselloversenyek-p9786.html), or did someone already mention? I'm guessing one can purchase the CD there too, maybe download ... yep , there's an add mp3 to cart (for some but not all the individual tracks) button to the right, there, I see- it says "cart" when my irritable mouse just cursors along right over it...
(... ok, that is a really, really -nice- sound sample...)
Has anyone else heard the concerto yet? Listened to it again today - even more impressed (and moved) than last time...
Anybody? What a powerful work this is! A companion for the Elgar, surely...
I also think that this work is complementary to Elgar; although I don't see any Autumnal - Elegiac qualities in the Moór Cello Concerto No. 2, but it certainly is powerful stuff. Thank you for reminding me, I'll give this another spin.
It does indeed make a powerful impression but, despite quite a few listenings over the last three years, I'm afraid that I find Moór's melodic material just doesn't stick in the mind. In that respect at least I find myself bracketing Moór with, of all people, Cherubini: they are both capable of writing seriously impressive but oddly unmemorable music. No doubt friends will disagree.
That's what I thought - at first. Now I find that repeated listenings have changed my mind.