Composer: Joseph Haydn, Matthias Georg Monn
Performer: Jean-Guihen Queyras
Orchestra: Freiburger Barockorchester
Conductor: Petra Müllejans
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Catalogue: HMC901816
Release: 2003
Size: 698 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, Hob.VIIb:1
01. I. Moderato
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Finale. Allegro molto
Haydn: Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major, Hob.VIIb:2
04. I. Allegro moderato
05. II. Un poco adagio
06. III. Rondo all’Ungarese
Monn: Cello Concerto in G minor
07. I. Allegro
08. II. Adagio
09. III. Allegro non tanto
This admirable Harmonia Mundi release presents Franz Josef Haydn’s two cello concertos and the Cello Concerto in G minor by Georg Matthias Monn with the luster of period instruments; refined, idiomatic playing; and exceptional sound quality, with full resonance; and cellist Jean-Guihan Queyras and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, directed by Petra Müllejans, render these works with exquisite details and emotional depth. In a real sense, their performances are acts of rediscovery, for Haydn’s cello concertos have become routine fare from too many modern renditions, and Monn’s piece is unfamiliar from too few performances. Indeed, all three concertos have suffered the vagaries of preservation and interpretation. Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major was once considered lost until its discovery in 1961; the Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major suffered false attribution and its authorship was debated until the appearance of the manuscript in 1954; and Monn’s concerto survived only in an arrangement for harpsichord and strings until Arnold Schoenberg edited it in 1912. To set the record straight, this disc presents the concertos intelligently refurbished, with appropriate eighteenth century style and color. Through their insightful scholarship and sensitive performances, Queyras and Müllejans have produced a fine alternative to the less authentic mainstream recordings.