Elgar & Hans Gál: Cello Concertos

Hans Gál, Edward Elgar • Antonio Meneses (cello); Northern Sinfonia; Claudio Cruz (conductor)

Label: Avie Records

Catalogue number: AV2237

Release year: 2012

Grammy nomination – Best Classical Instrumental Solo (55th Annual Grammy Awards, 2013)

About this release

This disc pairs the premiere recording of Hans Gál’s lyrical Cello Concerto Op. 67 with Antonio Meneses’s first recording of Edward Elgar’s beloved Cello Concerto in E minor. Written during and immediately after the Second World War, Gál’s concerto is a deeply personal, elegiac work that mirrors the elegy and restraint of Elgar’s concerto. Antonio Meneses’s rich tone and musicality, supported by the Northern Sinfonia under Claudio Cruz, reveal the concerto’s sweeping melodies and masterful orchestration. The programme underlines the common humanity of these two works, both written in exile or withdrawal yet imbued with hope and beauty.

Where to buy or listen

• Avie Records – CD & booklet
• Feature.fm – choose a digital service
• MusicWeb International – CD purchase link

What critics said

“Meneses describes the Gál concerto as a ‘jewel of a concerto’ that deserves a place in the cello repertoire; his performance here under Claudio Cruz reveals a work that is masterfully orchestrated, unfailingly mellifluous and ideationally varied, every phrase shaped with warmth and expressive understanding.”

This summation comes from the detailed review on MusicWeb International, which applauds the soloist’s thoughtful interpretation and the concerto’s nostalgic lyricism. The reviewer notes that Meneses’s recording should serve as a reference for this long‑overlooked work.

Further context

Avie’s release blurb emphasises the parallels between the two concertos: both were composed in Britain and eschew showmanship in favour of lyrical, contemplative writing. Gál’s concerto remained unperformed for decades after its completion, and this recording brings its broad orchestral brushstrokes and elegiac beauty to light. The hansgal.org catalogue notes that this album received a nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo at the 55th Grammy Awards.

The most recent release in the growing Gál discography may prove one of the most important in the posthumous revival of the orchestral music of this near-centenerian, who spent his latter life in UK. After release from internment as an "enemy alien" he settled in Scotland and taught in Edinburgh University for many years.

Whilst it may be a long road before the symphonies promoted by Kenneth Woods become regular concert fare (he can't be everywhere !) the chances for this marvellous cello concerto to become part of "the repertoire" are far better, since soloists play a big part in publicising concertos which they favour.

Composed in c.1944, it is an endearing, lyrical and expressive work of consummate professionalism, coping with all the pitfalls of the medium, with ample scope for displaying virtuosity too. Its craftmanship is consummate and it is of a timeless appeal, in no way limited to its period of origin, now nearly a century ago.

Here it is coupled with Antonio Meneses' fine account of the Elgar (popularised by the legendary Jacqueling du Pré above all, and secure in every master-cellist's repertoire) and Meneses' appraisal of it as "a jewel of a concerto that should be part of the normal repertoire of all cellists in the world" is no self-serving publicity hyperbole.

Meneses looks to students to take it up; the CD should be in every college/academy library and aspiring young cellists should be vying with each other to bring it to the audiences at their major concerts (such as London RAM's Friday lunchtimes public concerts).

Which one will be the first?

I recommend it strongly to collectors and have purposely placed it at the head of an extensive Hans Gál page.

Peter Grahame Woolf (May 2012)

(From: http://www.musicalpointers.co.uk/reviews/cddvd10/GalVogel.html)