Voices in the Wilderness: cello concertos by exiled Jewish composers
Voices in the Wilderness: cello concertos by exiled Jewish composers
Raphael Wallfisch (cello), Konzerthausorchester Berlin & Nicholas Milton (conductor)
Hans Gál: Cello Concerto, op.67
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Cello Concerto
CPO 555074-2
2017
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Voices in the Wilderness: Cello Concertos by Exiled Jewish Composers
Hans Gál, Mario Castelnuovo‑Tedesco • Raphael Wallfisch (cello); Konzerthausorchester Berlin; Nicholas Milton (conductor)
About this release
The first volume of Raphael Wallfisch’s “Voices in the Wilderness” series brings together two cello concertos by Jewish composers who were driven into exile. Hans Gál’s Cello Concerto Op. 67, written in Edinburgh in 1944–45, is an introspective, elegiac work suffused with songful lines and gentle melancholy. Mario Castelnuovo‑Tedesco’s 1933 concerto is its polar opposite: a sparkling, virtuosic showpiece brimming with Mediterranean warmth and rhythmic vitality. Wallfisch and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Nicholas Milton find the expressive heart of each piece, revealing the breadth of feeling in music born of displacement.
Where to buy or listen
What critics said
“Gál’s Cello Concerto is a deeply personal work, tonally accessible and imbued with enchanting lyricism. Its central Andante is a reflective musing, while the spirited finale bursts with energy and vitality. Wallfisch’s playing sparkles with verve and vigour, and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Nicholas Milton bring out the music’s yearning nostalgia and quiet melancholy.”
— MusicWeb International review Read the full review
Further context
Both composers were victims of political upheaval: Castelnuovo‑Tedesco wrote his concerto for Gregor Piatigorsky shortly before fleeing fascist Italy, and Gál crafted his work while rebuilding his life in wartime Scotland. The pairing offers a poignant snapshot of exile’s impact on musical expression, contrasting a virtuosic, Italianate concerto with a tender, wistful meditation rooted in Central European tradition.
