Schumann, Cello Concerto in A minor

During his relatively short existence, even for his time, Robert Schumann could only write seven works for soloist and orchestra. Of these, the Piano Concerto (1854) and the one written for cello in 1850 have today a regular presence on the world's stages. The former is in excellent health. Although less popular, the Cello Concerto can be pointed out as one of the favorites of the virtuosi of the instrument, given the reduced presence of great cello concertos of the Romantic period.

Düsseldorf
Happily married for ten years to Clara, the couple and their five children had just escaped the Dresden uprisings of May 1849 (in which Wagner participated enthusiastically, even on the barricades). In December of that year, he was offered the post of music director in Düsseldorf. As soon as he arrived, he composed the Cello Concerto, according to legend, in just two weeks. But he did not stay long in the city, as the maestro, it seems, was not cut out for conducting orchestras. After a year, his contract was rescinded. Robert and Clara will go on tour.

Robert Schumann in 1850
(1810 - 1856)

Concerto for cello and orchestra in A minor, opus 129
Schumann died six years later, and never saw the premiere of the concerto. The work will be performed for the first time in Leipzig in 1860 in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the composer's birth.
The work, deeply romantic although largely devoid of dazzling virtuoso moments, includes three movements that follow one another, without pause, their tempi named in German.

Movements:
00:00   Nicht du znell (not too fast)
11:25   Langsam (slow)
15:19   Sehr lebhaft (very lively)

The rendition is by the young Austrian-Iranian cellist Kian Soltani, accompanied by the SWR Symphonieorchester, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.