Product Review

Since its discovery in the National Museum of Prague and subsequent authentication in the early 1960s, the Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major has wasted no time endearing itself to both virtuosi and the public alike... Although they share the same fast-slow-fast movement structure, Haydn's cello concerti have two quite different personalities. The great Concerto in D Major remains one of Haydn's most lyrically expressive works. The cello is the nucleus and leader of the whole ensemble; the passagework for the solo instrument is bravura and ingenious; yet much of the concerto seems almost wistful in nature and more concerned with expression than flashiness. The C Major Concerto, on the other hand, is all smiles. Mr. Starker describes it as being "among the purest music Haydn ever wrote."