Haydn: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

St. George Strings; Jankovic, Xenia

Franz Josef Haydn wrote his first concerto in C major for Violoncello and Orchestra in in the mid-1760s while he was tenured at the Esterhazy chapel and surrounded by world-class musicians. It was for virtuosic cellist Joseph Franz Weigl that Haydn wrote this work. It is a piece full of contrast in the early classical, virtuoso and concertante style.Twenty years later, the second concerto in D major was composed, inspired by the cellist of the Esterhazy chapel, Anton Kraft. A the Esterhaza Palace presided an intense opera company. Just before the D major concerto was written, Haydn wrote and conducted innumerable operas and liaised with the soprano Luigia Polzelli. The D major Cell Concerto clearly draws inspiration from opera- the themes in this concerto are singing, storytelling, and highly diverse passages are integrated. For cellists and listeners, the two concertos from Joseph Haydn are always an inexhaustible source of inspiration and joy. We can also enter into Haydn’s period and the “Esterhazy Fairy Kingdom,” as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe described in his autobiography. Founded in 1992, the St. George Strings have garnered great success, carrying out a large number of concert tours, and recording for radio, TV, and album release.

Price: $27.98