Antonin Dvorak: Cellokonzert op.104 (Speakers Corner)

The outstanding success of our edition of Bach's Cello Suites, played by Janos Starker, encourages us to present Dvorák's Cello Concerto, another no less important recording of the Hungarian virtuoso. Starker takes this concerto into his hands with a striking certainty that does not seem to know any technical problems. The purity of the tones remains unclouded even in the dreaded high registers and cadenzas, so that one can devote oneself entirely to the meditative magic of music.
With Antal Dorati and the London Symphony Orchestra, Starker has found worthy comrades-in-arms. Conductor and soloist set standards in concert collaboration, with less emphasis on the much-invoked competition in the interpretation. Rather, the protagonists commit themselves to a chamber music reading that is characterized by a dynamically moderate use of the orchestra and a consistently slender tone of the solo part.

As an always welcome encore, Bruchs second page features "Kol Nidrei", performed with juice, power and a healthy portion of the romantic enamel that makes the piece blossom into an evergreen.