Dutilleux • Weinberg Weinberg: Cello Concerto in D minor; Dutilleux: Tout un monde lointain... (Cello Concerto) Edgar Moreau (cello); WDR Symphony Orchestra/Andris Poga Erato 5419748933 61:40 mins
After suffering years of neglect, Mieczysław Weinberg’s Cello Concerto, initially championed by Rostropovich in the 1950s, has accrued an increasing number of advocates both in the concert hall and on disc. This new performance makes the best possible case for it establishing a more secure place in the repertoire. Edgar Moreau delivers a beautifully nuanced and heartfelt interpretation of the solo part, maximising variety of tone and characterisation in the individual movements, but without ever sounding mannered and indulgent. Such an approach is vital for building up intensity in the funereal tread of the opening Adagio as well as for making a convincing transition to the whimsical klezmer-inflected dance rhythms of the ensuing Moderato. There’s plenty of opportunity later in the concerto for Moreau to demonstrate his brilliant command of fast-moving passagework, and the WDR Sinfonieorchester under conductor Andris Poga are admirable partners, with particularly distinguished contributions from both the clarinets and trumpet.
As its title suggests, the veiled and aurally seductive textures of Henri Dutilleux’s Baudelaire-inspired Tout un monde lointain, also written for Rostropovich, are worlds apart from the gritty and direct musical language of the Weinberg. Once again, Moreau negotiates the ebb and flow of the solo line with complete mastery, moving seamlessly from mysterious and shadowy reflection to sudden bursts of manic activity. Perhaps the performance doesn’t quite catch fire to the same extent as is the case with some other front-runners in this repertoire, most notably Johannes Moser and Truls Mørk. But this warmly recorded and enterprising coupling of two of the finest cello concertos of the 20th century certainly deserves a very enthusiastic recommendation.
Erik Levi
