Heavyweight Concerto Coupling

The latest one off the shelf of the BBC music magazine covermount disks features what were at the time ( 2001 ) BBC Young Generation artists in two heavyweight late 19th century concertos. The Dvorak cello concerto is played by Alban Gerhardt and the Grieg piano concerto by Francois-Frederic Guy. Both are supported by the BBC Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Neeme Jarvi. The performance of the Grieg is a little run of the mill but I do have another version by Steven Kovacevich on a best of Grieg double cd. This is the only performance that I have of Dvorak's cello concerto and it is a very serviceable one from Gerhardt. It is a full blown romantic concerto with many memorable themes and a subtext of being a musical tribute to a late sister in law. It is deserving of its' place among the very top cello concertos. The Grieg is even more popular and crammed with tunes and is a perennial on the concert platform. In this performance, however, it doesn't quite seem suited to Guy's style and lacks a little passion.