Elgar: Cello Concerto, Op. 85 / Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations Op. 33 / Dvorak: Rondo Op.94, Klid [Silent Woods] Op. 68/5 Jean-Guihen Queyras

• 1 I. Adagio - Moderato 08:06
• 2 II. Lento - Allegro molto 04:31
• 3 III. Adagio 04:25
• 4 IV. Allegro - Moderato - Allegro ma non troppo - Poco più lento - Adagio 11:00
• 5 Rondo, Op. 94 07:54
• 6 Klid (Silent Woods), Op. 68,5 06:03
• 7 Moderato assai quasi Andante - Thema - Moderato semplice 02:27
• 8 Var. I - Tempo della Thema 00:56
• 9 Var. II - Tempo della Thema 01:14
• 10 Var. III - Andante sostenuto 03:46
• 11 Var. IV - Andante grazioso 02:00
• 12 Var. V - Allegro moderato 03:30
• 13 Var. VI - Andante 02:37
• 14 Var. VII e Coda - Allegro vivo 02:14
• Total Runtime 01:00:43

Info for Elgar: Cello Concerto, Op. 85 / Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations Op. 33 / Dvorak: Rondo Op.94, Klid [Silent Woods] Op. 68/5

'Composed 40 years apart, these two masterpieces from either side of the turn of the last century offer, in their intrinsic contradictions, a fascinating mirror effect. Thus the profound nostalgia of Sir Edward Elgar’s Concerto stands revealed in its lighter themes, which gain the upper hand in the second movement and a fair bit of the finale.

Similarly, the 'Rococo Variations', far from being just an entertaining stylistic exercise, conveys a deep underlying melancholy in the slow variations, while the divine harmonies of Tchaikovsky, who is the supreme master in that respect, reveal a genuine and discreet tenderness. Maestro Belohlávek is a great source of inspiration to me. I find in him a discretion, an accessibility and a profundity that remind me of Pierre Boulez in an entirely different repertory. What’s more, he was an excellent cellist in his early days and so he has our repertory at his fingertips, literally and figuratively. He was able to give me some valuable advice during the recording sessions!' Jean-Guihen Queyras.

“Technically, the performance is a marvel. The mellow timbre of his 1696 Gioffredo Cappa instrument is a pure joy. But allied to that...there is the sense that Queyras has made this recording through genuine love and perception of the Elgarian language...When it comes to mulling over discs of the year, this one will be a definite front-runner.” (The Daily Telegraph)

“Queyras is a commandingly secure and articulate soloist, and he enjoys attentive, typically selfless support throughout from Jiri Belohlavek and the BBC SO...Watkins's endearingly communicative and deeply tender advocacy in particular really does touch to the marrow every time...both the lovely Dvorak miniatures are idiomatically surveyed.” (Gramophone)

“No note or tone is misplaced, with harmonics especially pure, and a judicious use of vibrato means that Elgar's loping first-movement Moderato begins very purely indeed. It's refreshing not to have the Concerto larded with sentimentality; but I miss an extrovert swagger...Best is Dvorak's Silent Woods.” (BBC Music Magazine)

Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Jiri Belohlavek, conductor

Jean-Guihen Queyras
enjoys an enviable reputation as a musician of exceptional versatility and integrity, equally as a soloist with orchestras, chamber musician and solo performer.

He has performed with many of the world’s great orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Philharmonia, Orchestre de Paris, NHK Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Tonhalle Zurich, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Orchestre de la Suisse-Romande under conductors such as Iván Fischer, Philippe Herreweghe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jiří Bělohlávek, Olivier Knussen and Sir Roger Norrington. He appears regularly with early music ensembles such as the Freiburger Barockorchester and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

Jean-Guihen Queyras is also an enthusiastic exponent of contemporary music and is committed to expanding the repertoire boundaries of his instrument. He regularly collaborates with composers such as Bruno Mantovani, Jörg Widmann and Pierre Boulez; he also premiered the concertos of Michael Jarrell and Johannes-Maria Staud. In November 2014, Queyras performed Peter Eötvös’ cello concerto with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for Eötvös’ 70th birthday celebrations and Dutilleux’s concerto for the composer’s 100th anniversary.

His regular chamber music partners include pianists Alexandre Tharaud and Alexander Melnikov and violinist Isabelle Faust. He is a member of the Arcanto Quartett and also performs with Zarb specialists Kevyan and Bijan Chemirani.

Queyras is frequently asked to host artistic residencies. These have included a “Carte Blanche” at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and projects in Utrecht’s Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Gent’s De Bijloke. He was also “Artist in Residence” with the Hamburg-based chamber orchestra Ensemble Resonanz.

He has made numerous recordings for harmonia mundi. Recent releases include Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, recorded with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiří Bělohlávek, as well as Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano, recorded with Alexander Melnikov. He is currently involved in an all-Schumann project featuring the complete piano trios, performed with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov, and the concertos, performed with the Freiburger Barockorchester and Pablo Heras-Casado. The final installment with the Piano Trio No. 1 and the Cello Concerto will be released in early 2016.

The 2015/16 season sees Jean-Guihen Queyras in Residence at the Wigmore Hall. Further highlights include appearances with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln under François-Xavier Roth, Orquestra Nacionales de España under Vladimir Ashkenazy, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Sir Roger Norrington and Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra under Sylvain Cambreling. In the spring of 2016, he premieres Thomas Larcher’s “Cerha,” a commissioned work for solo cello and string orchestra.

Jean-Guihen Queyras plays a cello made by Gioffredo Cappa in 1696, on loan from Mécénat Musical Société Générale since November 2005. He is a professor at the Musikhochschule Freiburg.

Booklet for Elgar: Cello Concerto, Op. 85 / Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations Op. 33 / Dvorak: Rondo Op.94, Klid [Silent Woods] Op. 68/5