Cello Concerto: Tortelier(vc)Boult / BBC So +Brahms: Double Concero, Debussy

The French cellist Paul Tortelier (1914 ? 1990) was one of the truly great artists of the 20th Century. He was a close colleague of the doyen of all cellists ? Pablo Casals ? and was one of the elite French cello school of the time, Pierre Fournier and Maurice Gendron being the others. He collaborated with such eminent conductors as Sir Thomas Beecham and the composer Paul Hindemith. His previous release for BBC Legends was the Schumann and Hindemith Concertos (BBCL 4133-2).

Paul Tortelier’s son, Yan Pascal, is a notable violinist but has become known primarily as a major conductor, recently becoming Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He recorded all the Debussy, Ravel and Hindemith orchestral music for Chandos.

Tortelier made his name playing the Elgar Cello Concerto (the other being Strauss’s Don Quixote), particularly with Sir Adrian Boult who knew the composer well. This is the only stereo live account of Tortelier playing the Elgar Cello Concerto (though he recorded it twice in the studio).

The Brahms Double Concerto, featuring Yan Pascal Tortelier on violin, is a superb live stereo account which complements Paul Tortelier’s studio version with the violinist Christian Ferras. The live version generates so much more tension and the collaboration of father and son is perfectly balanced.

The short Debussy Sonata recorded in 1959 with Ernest Lush is a collector’s item and sounds magnificent.

Reviews: The French Cellist’s personality is stamped on every bar of these live performances. (Gramophone)
“This new BBC Legends issue is a cause for rejoicing…a lovely disc. (International Record Review)