Lalo / Casals: Cello Concertos

Édouard Lalo's (1823 - 1892) masterpiece, the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in D minor combines influences of Spanish folklore with his distinctive style reminiscent of German composers. 2023 is his 200th birthday. Though he was French he had Spanish ancestry and his famous work was frequently played by renowned cellist Pablo Casals to whom this album is dedicated. His brother Enrique Casals (1892 - 1986) was an outstanding violinist, conductor and composer in his own right. He composed the Cello Concerto in F Major in 1946 under the strong impression of the sea and the nature of Catalonia. The last movement is a sardana, a Catalan folk dance whose form Pablo Casals also used in many of his works, very he is clearly inspired by German late Romanticism.