Elgar and Dvořák: Cello Concertos album review – Gerhardt’s readings are forthright, refreshing and thoughtful

Gerhardt/WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln/Manze (Hyperion) Alban Gerhardt eschews the romantic, heart-on-sleeve interpretations of these famous concertos, and finds nobility and poetry even in the most turbulent music Alban Gerhardt adopts a back-to-basics approach in these thoughtful readings of cello concertos by Elgar and Dvořák. Determined to counter ideas embedded in the collective musical psyche by the likes of Jacqueline du Pré and Mstislav Rostropovich, there is a straightforwardness here, ...

By Clive Paget