Cello Concerto (with works by Bloch, Ligeti & Britten)

"The sound on this disc is to a high standard. The live recording from the Sydney Opera House, with applause omitted, is clear and well balanced. From the recording studio at the Onder de Linden in Valthermond the solo cello scores are closely caught and vividly clear. Pieter Wispelwey is a consummate performer and this - his debut disc for Onyx - would make a welcome addition to any collection of cello music."
(MusicWeb April 2009)

"Wispelwey's cello playing suits Walton's Concerto to near-perfection"
Orchestral disc of the Month BBC Music Magazine (June2009)

Onyx is delighted to announce the signing of one of the world's greatest cellists, Pieter Wispelwey, who after many years on the Channel Classics label has decided to move to ONYX. In this outstanding recording of mid- 20th century cello music, Pieter makes his first recording of the great Walton Cello Concerto.

Pieter recorded the Walton in Australia in 2007 in several live concerts with the excellent Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the experienced baton of the British conductor Jeffrey Tate. This recording has been expertly edited from the live concerts (applause omitted). The rest of the recording was made in studio conditions in Holland.

The works for solo cello are cleverly interrelated and brings discoveries such as the Bloch Suite (written at exactly the same time as the Walton Concerto in 1957), the early Ligeti Sonata (1948-53) and two works written for Rostropovich: Britten's Ciaconna from the 2nd suite and one of Walton's own contributions to the ground bass form, the Passacaglia.

For the concerto Wispelwey plays his normal Guadagnini cello but for the solo cello works he was thrilled to be able to record on the great Magg Stradivarius from 1698.