Britten: Cello Symphony; Cello Suite – Pieter Wispelwey, Flanders SO, Kim.

‘The Cello Symphony, one of four works Britten dedicated to Rostropovich, is one of his grittiest compositions, and even its dedicatee seemed to regard it with respect rather than love. The Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey has found his way to its heart and this recording in partnership with Seikyo Kim’s Flanders Symphony Orchestra could well persuade many doubters that it is the masterpiece its admirers claim. Wispelwey captures the mysterious atmosphere of the music, ranging from sinister and pessimistic to almost flippant. He also gives a masterly account of Britten’s First Cello Suite.’

Michael Kennedy, The Sunday Telegraph

‘The cello repertory has painfully few immortal concertos – hardly more than those by Schumann, Dvorák, Elgar and Shostakovich, supplemented by Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Strauss’s Don Quixote – but Britten’s Cello Symphony, written along with his three solo suites for Rostropovich, is on the list. The sensibility is relentlessly astringent, the writing shot through with a Dowlandish melancholy, even though the textures are transparent and even expressionistically vibrant. The balance between soloist and orchestra seems on a knife edge, but Wispelwey and the conductor Seikyo Kim maintain a fierce control. It’s a captivating account.

Paul Driver, The Sunday Times

Pieter Wispelwey’s first recording of Britten’s Cello Symphony, of which he says: ’What a formidable powerhouse of a piece. For me now, this masterpiece stands among the very best in the cello concerto repertoire’. The Cello Symphony is coupled here with a masterful account of the 1st Suite for solo cello.