Finzi: Cello Concerto, Eclogue, New Year Music and Grand Fantasia & Toccata Paul Watkins, Louis Lortie, BBC Symphony Orchestra & Andrew Davis

• Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956): Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 40:
• 1 Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 40: I. Allegro moderato 16:10
• 2 Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 40: II. Andante quieto 12:10
• 3 Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 40: III. Rondo. Adagio - Allegro giocoso 09:00
• Gerald Finzi:
• 4 Eclogue, Op. 10 09:14
• 5 Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 7 "New Year Music" 10:03
• 6 Grand Fantasia & Toccata, Op. 38 13:28
• Total Runtime 01:10:05

Info zu Finzi: Cello Concerto, Eclogue, New Year Music and Grand Fantasia & Toccata

A broad and meticulous selection of orchestral works and concertos by Gerald Finzi is here matched by a first-class cast of soloists, supported by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis, expert in British repertoire and conducting this year’s Last Night of the Proms. Paul Watkins displays exhilarating virtuosity in the Cello Concerto, a central work on this album, composed in the wake of the devastating news that Finzi was terminally ill, but yet filled with ‘vigorous, almost turbulent thematic material’, as he wrote in the programme note for the work’s premiere at the Cheltenham Music Festival in 1955. Louis Lortie, for his part, tackles the high-spirited and majestic Grand Fantasia and Toccata, the Fantasia originally conceived as part of a concerto for piano and strings and first performed on two pianos. This contrasts with the more restrained Eclogue for Piano and Strings, timeless, and blessed with a mood of benediction. This album also features the orchestral Nocturne (subtitled ‘New Year Music’), dark, misty, and at times ironic.

"Sir Andrew Davis’s feeling for the composer’s sensitive, harmonically conservative language is abundantly clear in these vivid readings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Soloists too are well chosen. Cellist Paul Watkins proves a master of expressing powerful feelings through the prism of British reserve. Admirers of Finzi’s music can buy without hesitation." (BBC Music Magazine)

"Watkins’ performance, which manages to be warmly expressive while remaining slightly detached, captures that mood perfectly. Nothing is exaggerated or over-assertive...allowing Finzi’s very individual musical voice to speak for itself, as it does so clearly in all the other performances on this disc too." (The Guardian)

"Paul Watkins’s captivating performance, supported devotedly by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under an inspired Andrew Davis and captured in opulently detailed sound, radiates insight and conviction in every bar. With first-class couplings, this is a Finzi disc to cherish." (The Strad)

Paul Watkins, cello
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sir Andrew Davis, conductor

Paul Watkins
Acclaimed for his inspirational performances and eloquent musicianship, Paul Watkins enjoys a remarkably varied and distinguished career as soloist, chamber musician and conductor. He regularly appears as concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the world. Recent highlights include concertos with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Colorado Symphony, Hong Kong and Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestras, and appearances at the BBC Proms as conductor and soloist.

A much sought-after chamber musician, Paul was a member of the Nash Ensemble from 1997 until 2013, when he joined the Emerson String Quartet. He performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at festivals worldwide. He was the first ever Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra, and also served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra from 2009 to 2012. Since winning the 2002 Leeds Conducting Competition he has conducted many of the major orchestras throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Paul records exclusively for Chandos Records, with recent releases including Britten’s Cello Symphony, the Walton, Delius, Elgar and Lutoslawski concertos, Mendelssohn’s music for cello and piano, and an ongoing series of British sonatas with his brother, Huw Watkins. In 2014, Paul was appointed Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.

Booklet für Finzi: Cello Concerto, Eclogue, New Year Music and Grand Fantasia & Toccata