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Educate me about cello pieces and recordings

ex brickie

ex brickie

pfm Member
Only since hearing Sheku Kanneh Mason have I been drawn anywhere near cello music. To be honest, orchestral strings aren't really my thing. I have a particular dislike for violins. That said, I was spellbound by Sheku's cello royal wedding performance .

I've since listened to bits of his no.1 classical album on YouTube but those pieces don't grab me.

Can someone point me to some cello pieces to listen to , and great performances and recordings of said pieces? My first challenge will be finding pieces I like - then which recordings are excellent (vinyl, CD or SACD)

Thanks
 
Do you have opportunity to have the radio on as background for an hour or so a day, or more? I alternate between R4 and R3 to and from work and although I love a great deal of classical music, I own very little and know far too little about it, but R3 is a great educator and also a source of surprisingly obscure, modern, and really all else classical (music). You'll, hopefully, very seldom be bored, and very occasionally, you'll be enthralled. FAR better than sound-bite-Classic FM.

By strange coincidence, as I drove in to work yesterday morning, there was a very small "flurry" of string music, including at least one beautiful cello piece - so try iPlayer for 4th September - not sure of the programme title, but on air covering my journey at around 07.30/08.00.
 
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I’m not a classical music buff by any means, so all I can mention is what I enjoy, rather than what I can claim is excellent.
However, I would suggest Steven Isserlis playing Bach’s Cello suites on the Hyperion label.
It’s solo cello, close mic’d & quite intense & personal. You can hear the bowing & fingering.
Give it a try!
 
The answer to most classical music questions tends to be ‘Bach’. As stated above the solo cello pieces are the place to start.
 
Indeed. Well worth scouring YouTube for Du Pre, Rostropovich etc, that will root up some quality stuff.
 
Tony L said:
The answer to most classical music questions tends to be ‘Bach’. As stated above the solo cello pieces are the place to start.
Click to expand...

But it is all a matter of taste - don't feel you are failing in any way if you don't appreciate Bach, and I don't think you'd be alone if you found the Cello Suites rather inaccessible. I love the music of more or less every other well-known composer and many more besides, but fail to be moved by Bach. For Cello music, the Du Pre box as suggested above would be a good place to start, but this one is more comprehensive, and also includes the Beethoven Cello Sonatas:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007GP1CC2/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

There are other interesting more modern (well, last 60 -70 years!) pieces for Cello as well, such as the Britten Cello Sonatas, and Concertos for Cello by Shostakovitch

But there is a whole World of wonderful classical music to be discovered. The cello is a wonderful instrument, but the amount of what you might call "Cello Music" is a very small fraction of the world of classical music.
 
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Or you might look at Elgar, du Pre, Barbirolli, on EMI classic recordings, on either vinyl or CD, both are great quality recordings, or Elgar, Paul Tortelier/RPO/Groves, which I have on CD, and both versions are recommended, but sound slightly different, obviously.
then there's the famous duPre/Barenboim/ Philadelphia Orch. version.
The EMI version is coupled with Sea Pictures, Dame Janet Baker, which can send shivers up your spine.
 
If you want to avoid the classic classics, the recordings of Thomas Demenga are well worth investigating. ECM are available on streaming now, so his recordings are easily available that way. He’s made some fascinating stuff.

There’s much interesting cello music from the 20th Century, this is a particularly interesting piece and rather beautiful:

Protecting Veil/Cello Suite No. 3 (Rozhdestvensky, Lsserlis) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000UYWGGC/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
 
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I am surprised that no one has mentioned Janos Starker's Bach yet. It's magical and sounds really good too.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Dvorak's cello concerto (Op 104) is very nice also.

And then there's the Swan from Saint Saen's carnival of the animals. Just 3 minutes, but beautiful.

 
sean99 said:
Dvorak's cello concerto (Op 104) is very nice also.

And then there's the Swan from Saint Saen's carnival of the animals. Just 3 minutes, but beautiful.

Click to expand...

Both of which are on the 3 disc du Pré set Whaleblue linked. Just saying, since I ordered it thanks to this thread, and from the quick listen I had earlier, it’s ace.
 
For me, the piece for cello par excellence. Not exactly joyful music, but that isn't what the cello was built for anyway :(

 
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