Dvorak Cello Concerto

I didn’t realize that Gendron had made those other recordings.  I had worked in a record store in Ann Arbor in college that claimed to carry every recording in print and could scarcely find any Gendron but I ought to try that newfangled Internet.

I am unfamiliar with Gastinel, but every cellist who has a career has recorded the Dvorak, so I can check it out.  Rostropovich/Karajan never moved the needle for me but it’s been a few decades since I listened so yes, maybe with streaming I will have a Dvorak binge this weekend 

Gastinel seems to have recorded a lot but Qobuz doesn’t list a Dvorak recording.

And as for Gendron, Qobuz lists the Rostropovich/Richter Beethoven Sonata set under his name

I have the Mercury Starker, both in SACD and in stereo from one of the big Mercury box reissues.  It is hugely enjoyable.  Ultimately I prefer players with a bigger tone, such as Gendron and Weilerstein

I’ll have to listen to DuPre again.  My recollection is that Barenboim spends a lot of energy over emoting .

I saw Weilerstein as well, but Muller-Schott would have been interesting 

As I understand it there are 2 major Orchestras in Cologne.  One is the Gurzenich Orchestra, and the other has I think undergone a name change in the relatively recent past.  Then of course there are he Period Groups, such as Musica Antiqua Koln and Concerto Koln.

  we had a trip planned to Germany for the Fall of 2020 and I was planning to see Concerts in Cologne, Berlin, Munich and Dresden, but of course that went up in smoke with the Pandemic 

I couldn’t remember the name of the WDR before…thank you for jogging the memory bank.  
@melm i couldn’t tell if your comment was serious or questioning.  I will say that the newish Weilerstein will take a lot to beat in the Sonics department.  Decca hasn’t lost their touch.

  I am listening to DuPre/Barenboim now.  It’s better than I remembered it to be, but I still think DB gets a bit to cute with rubato in some of the melt in your mouth nostalgic parts.  The beauty is there in the music and it doesn’t need italicizing from a 30 ish wunderkind Conductor.  However as I stated previously it isn’t as blatant as I had thought, and if this were the only recording of the piece I could easily live it.  Like most Classical works in the pantheon it faces stiff competition, and the great is the enemy of the good

@melm I heard Weilerstein and the Czech PO perform the piece in Chicago, with Bychkov conducting, as Behlolavak had passed away.  Aural memories can fail us, but I think the Decca recording is very faithful to a concert perspective .

  Starker had a more laser like intonation and at least in his non Bach recordings had less vibrato than Rostropovich, Gendron, Du Pre, Weilerstein, etc.  I have his Bach recordings but its been a while since I last heard them so  I will except those. The contemporary Cellist that most reminds me of Starker is Capucon.

I’ve been listening to the Rostropovich/Karajan the last few days and have been using it to do some system comparisons.  Regarding the performance, it is absolutely fine.  There is plenty of virtuosity on display, not the least being the burnished horns of the BPO.  This recording really shines in the slow movement.  Somehow it doesn’t sound as convincing to me as my two favorites, but its nothing to sneeze at.

  My CA streamer does AirPlay and Chromecast.  I recently added Apple Music as I have become dissatisfied with Qobuz for a few reasons and have been thinking of dumping it, and used this recording as a comparator this morning.  First I AirPlay from my iPad to the CA .  Next up was casting from Qobuz on my Android phone, and ended with Qobuz playing directly through the streamer.  It improved with each iteration, but the biggest jump was the last, as the Cello became distinctly fuller sounding and the sound stage snapping into place