Cellist Lev Sivkov Photo: Supplied
Samuel Barber’s 1945 concerto was commissioned for the Russian expatriate cellist Raya Garbousova. It’s a light, graceful dialogue between soloist and orchestra. The cello line radiates warmth and the transparently-scored orchestra responds with delightful snatches of melody.
The beguilingly gentle first movement is punctuated by two fiendishly difficult cadenzas. The middle movement, a set of variations over the pulse of a very slow Sicilienne dance, often makes the oboe and the other woodwinds almost equal partners with the soloist.
The last movement has a dramatic opening which dances restlessly between time signatures and moods. The soloist has some technically demanding cadenzas to manage. A number of powerful, slower passages hint at something darker, growing over a heavy accompaniment into a kind of funeral march.
Recorded in Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington on 2 August 2019 by RNZ Concert
Producer/sound engineer: Darryl Stack
