Reinecke Cello Concerto

[Richard Moss]

OK gents,

Guess there's been a minor glitch with my download - I'll contact him directly to check what the 'score' is (pardon the pun!)

Tks for your prompt replies

Richard

[JimL]

I finally got my copy of the CD on Saturday, and I daresay, I'm utterly flabbergasted that in an extremely limited repertoire, more cellists haven't included this piece.  Repeated hearings of this work have only increased its stature in my opinion.  It is remarkably concise (except in the sole cadenza, which is forgivable) and doesn't overstay its welcome for an instant.  The melodic material is memorable and ably developed, and the solo cello sings through and above the orchestra loud and clear, revealing scoring wizardry of the highest order.  The finale is almost too short and more successful than many a finale penned by Reinecke, not to mention other composers.  This is as perfect a cello concerto as it's possible to compose, and the hated word "masterpiece", often the source of much strife and contention, would not be misapplied here, IMHO.  One minor quibble - in the liner notes, the birth and death dates of Reinecke are wrong.  I believe the dates are those of his first teacher, his father Johann (1795-1883) http://ordoe.com/explore/Johann-Peter-Rudolph-Reinecke.  Carl Reinecke, of course, lived from 1824 to 1910.   

[semloh]

Thanks for that marvellous description, Jim. I will certainly be buying said disc! 

[Alan Howe]

Jim is 100% right. It is inexplicable that Reinecke's CC is not in the standard repertoire. But then, his VC and PC3 should be there too. Ah well...

[JimL]

There is also a sense of progression in the work.  The first movement is largely dark (minor), the Romanze progresses from dark to light (major), and the finale, after some dark shadows, is all light.  And, did anyone who is familiar with the later violin concerto note that there is a fragment in the Romanze that strongly foreshadows the second subject from the first movement of that work?

[Alan Howe]

Here's Brian Reinhart's extremely positive review on MusicWeb:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Nov14/Reinecke_cello_DE3446.htm