DESCRIPTION:
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
Alban Gerchardt (cello)
Myung-whun Chung (conductor)
Deutsche Grammophon 06.2014

Cello Concerto of 2008/9, revised 2013
Unsuk Chin's Cello Concerto was written for cellist Alban Gerhardt, and premiered at the BBC Proms. The revised version of the work was commissioned by the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Again in four movements, it starts from nothing, just a single held note from the cello. From this the cellist's line develops into a singing cantilena in dialogue with the orchestra.

The solo writing pushes the cellist – the superb Alban Gerhardt – to the limits of the possible, while constantly reassessing the way it and the orchestra respond to each other.

Andrew Clements