Elgar & Bridge: Cello Concertos Gabriel Schwabe, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra & Christopher Ward

• Sir Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934): Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85:
• 1 Elgar: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: I. Adagio - Moderato 07:13
• 2 Elgar: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: II. Lento - Allegro molto 04:25
• 3 Elgar: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: III. Adagio 04:11
• 4 Elgar: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: IV. Allegro - Moderato - Allegro ma non troppo 10:31
• Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941): Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco):
• 5 Bridge: Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco): Poco lento 05:26
• 6 Bridge: Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco): Allegro - Allargando - Meno energico - Poco largamente 04:02
• 7 Bridge: Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco): Ben moderato 04:02
• 8 Bridge: Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco): Allegro giusto 04:08
• 9 Bridge: Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco): Cadenza 01:53
• 10 Bridge: Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco): Allegro - Meno energico - A tempo, energico - Allargando poco animato 02:40
• 11 Bridge: Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco): Lento 05:05
• 12 Bridge: Oration, H. 180 (Concerto elegiaco): Epilogue. Andante tranquillo 02:30
• Total Runtime 56:06

Info for Elgar & Bridge: Cello Concertos

These two masterpieces are shadowed by the events of the First World War. Elgar’s Cello Concerto, an intensely poignant, reflective and individual musical statement, has enjoyed unflagging popularity among musicians and listeners for over 100 years. By contrast, Frank Bridge’s Oration (Concerto elegiaco) remained unperformed for decades after its early hearings. Yet it shares spiritual affinities with Elgar’s work and serves as a funeral address of huge solemnity and narrative power in its outcry against the futility of war. Gabriel Schwabe has established himself among the leading cellists of his generation. He is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, including the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann and the Concours Rostropovich in Paris. In 2009 he won the prestigious Pierre Fournier Award in London. As a soloist, he has worked with orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin the Malmö and Norrköping Symphony Orchestras and Royal Northern Sinfonia with conductors including Marek Janowski, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Dennis Russell Davies, Cornelius Meister, Marc Soustrot, Lars Vogt and Michael Sanderling.

Gabriel Schwabe, cello
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Ward, conductor

Gabriel Schwabe
is a laureate of three of the world‘s most prestigious cello competitions: the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann in Berlin, the Concours Rostropovich in Paris and the Pierre Fournier Award in London. As a soloist he has worked with important orchestras such as the London Philharmonia, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the NDR Radio Philharmonic, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the DSO Berlin, the Malmö and Norrköping Symphony Orchestras and the NCPA Orchestra Beijing with conductors such as Marek Janowski, Eivind Gullberg-Jensen, Dennis Russell-Davies, Cornelius Meister, Michael Sanderling and Marc Soustrot.

In chamber music, Gabriel Schwabe regularly performs with artists such as Isabelle Faust, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, Kirill Gerstein and Enrico Pace. In 2010 he gave his recital debut at London’s Wigmore Hall. He is a regular guest at festivals such as the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Kronberg Festival, Amsterdam Biennale and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Since 2015, he has been an exclusive recording artist with record label Naxos. His debut CD (Brahms Sonatas and Songs with pianist Nicholas Rimmer) was released the same year. Releases with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra under Marc Soustrot, the Royal Northern Sinfonia under Lars Vogt and the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Antoni Wit followed to great critical acclaim.

Gabriel Schwabe was born in Berlin to German-Spanish parents. He studied with Catalin Ilea at the University of Arts in Berlin and with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy and recieved further stimulus from Janos Starker, Gary Hoffmann and Gidon Kremer.

He is a cello professor at the HfMT Cologne and the Conservatorium Maastricht. He is married to violinist Hellen Weiß and plays a cello by Giuseppe Guarneri (Cremona, 1695).

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