Accompanied by the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie, French cellist Xavier Phillips performs Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Concerto No. 9 in B flat Major, G.482. Conductor: Philip Greenberg.
Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Concerto No. 9
The composer himself was a virtuoso cellist and composed this concerto in either the late 1760s or early 1770s. He is most widely known for one particular minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 (G 275), and the Cello Concerto in B flat major (G 482).
This concerto was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arranger Friedrich Grützmacher but has recently been restored to its original version. It has long been an integral part of standard cello instruction, because of the creeping use of the full 4+ octave range of the cello, rather than large jumps between different finger positions.
Movements (with the starting times in the video):
- 00:22 Allegro moderato
- 10:05 Andantino grazioso
- 15:05 Rondo. (Allegro)
The second piece is Sarabande, from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Cello Suites, Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007.
Xavier Phillips
Born in 1971 in Paris, Xavier Phillips began to study the cello at the early age of 6. By 15, he entered Philippe Muller’s studio at the CNSM in Paris and graduated with first prize in 1989.
After these formative years, he won several international prizes: the Second Prize and Special Prize at the Young Artists of Belgrade Competition, the Special Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Third and Special Prize at the Rostropovich Competition in Paris, and the First Prize, awarded unanimously, at the 1st Competition of Helsinki.
His participation brought him to the attention of Mstislav Rostropovich, who had been particularly taken with his playing during the Rostropovich competition. Their encounter proved especially fruitful since it marked the beginning of a long collaboration during which Xavier Phillips received the guidance and encouragement of the master cellist.
Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie
The ensemble was founded in Augsburg in 1990 in order to present concerts and programs of its own devising at the highest standard. Only two years later a co-production with Bayerischer Rundfunk resulted in its first CD, with music by proscribed composers from Theresienstadt, which received accolades from the international music world.
In 1996, the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie was the recipient of the Advancement Award for Music from the Society for Culture Promotion of the European Economic Circle. Concerts in Germany and abroad, invitations to international festivals, numerous CD productions and collaborations with soloists and conductors such as Reinhard Goebel, Christopher Hogwood, Michel Plasson, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Albrecht Mayer, Mischa Maisky, David Geringas, Jens-Peter Maintz, Mirijam Contzen, Maximilian Hornung, Nils Mönkemeyer, Julia Fischer, Julia Varady, Konstantin Lifschitz, Leonidas Kavakos, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Dave Brubeck and Chick Corea, or with personalities such as Walter Jens and Norbert Blüm, attest to the high quality of the ensemble.
Since 2004 the bayerische kammerphilharmoie has organised its own concert series un·er·hört with up to seven concerts per year in Augsburg. In early 2009 the orchestra appointed Reinhard Goebel as its first guest conductor in order to be able to deepen its successful collaboration with this distinguished musician.
Sources
- Cello Concerto No. 9 (Boccherini) on Wikipedia
- Cello Concerto No. 9 in B-flat major, G.482 (Boccherini, Luigi) on the International Music Score Library Project website
