Schumann: Cello Concerto Jean-Guihen Queyras

• Robert Schumann (1810–1856): Cello Concerto Op.129 in a Minor
• 1I. Nicht zu schnell10:41
• 2II. Langsam04:04
• 3III. Sehr lebhaft07:55
• Piano Trio No.1 Op.63 in D Minor
• 4I. Mit Energie und Leidenschaft12:28
• 5II. Lebhaft, Doch nicht zu rasch04:56
• 6III. Langsam, mit inniger Empfindung06:21
• 7IV. Mit Feuer08:24
• Total Runtime54:49

Info for Schumann: Cello Concerto

This second volume of the complete recording of the concertos and trios of Schumann shows just how badly we needed an interpretation that respects the subtleties and the transparency of Schumann s writing. Here is a different stylistic approach to one of the finest concertos in the repertoire, which will undoubtedly open the way to the rediscovery of music as poetic as it is moving. The final installment will be of the Cello Concerto and Piano Trio No. 1 with Jean-Guihen Queyras. 'The idea for this CD project arose during a tour on which we performed Robert Schumann s Trio Op.80. As passionate admirers of the composer, we conceived the desire to place his works for piano, violin and cello in a broader context and to illuminate them mutually in order to allow listeners to gain a deeper understanding of his music. We soon agreed to play the pieces for this recording on a historical piano and stringed instruments with gut strings, using orchestral forces to match. Thanks to this, we expected our playing to be better balanced, better articulated, and more open-minded. Pablo Heras-Casado and the Freiburger Barockorchester sprang spontaneously to mind as the ideal partners for a project of this kind. And indeed they took up our idea enthusiastically and were keen and irreplaceable fellow-conspirators in the world of Schumann. Our shared journey into the magical world of this incomparable composer will remain with us as an exceptionally intense, happy and fulfilling experience.' Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Jean-Guihen Queyras

„Best Classical Music Recordings of 2015“ (The New York Times)

Monthly Choice (BBC Music Magazine)

„Fausts sound is so silvery and expressive, so simultaneously commanding and questioning“ (The Guardian UK)

„Subtlety and finesse are the operatives in what will be one of the best recordings of the work for some time.“ (The Washington Post)

„the performance is a gem...from the punchy, nervous accents in the first movement to a deliciously balanced account of the busy melodic writing in the swooning second movement.“ (The Arts Fuse)

„Melnikovs execution brings out transparent qualities that are not often encountered...The result is a pair of performances of Schumanns music that are as rich in personality as they are in execution technique.“ (The Examiner)

Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
Isabelle Faust, violin
Alexander Melnikov, fortepiano

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 Schumann: Cello Concerto