Cello Concerto in C minor
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Orchestra
- Duration
- 25'
- Publisher
- Public Domain
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About this piece
Ricardo Castro's Cello Concerto is described by CelloBello's 'Opening Paths' series (Natali Herrera-Pacheco, Horacio Contreras and Germán Marcano) as the first cello concerto written in Latin America. Castro dedicated it to the Belgian cellist Marix Loevensohn, who premiered it at the Salle Erard in Paris. CelloBello dates that premiere to 6 April 1903, but other sources give different dates (see notes). The authors point to the influence of Saint-Saëns's First Cello Concerto, with the first two movements linked by a cadenza and the opening theme returning at the end, and note that the solo part 'relies heavily on utilizing the high tessitura register'. The concerto was not heard again for 78 years, until Carlos Prieto played it with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería under Jorge Velazco at the Sala Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico City on 11 July 1981. Prieto and Velazco recorded it with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra in 1985. All known sources go back to a manuscript score in the Fleisher Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia. IMSLP offers a free typeset cello solo part edited by Luis Barajas and a cello-and-piano version based on Eduardo Hernández Moncada's reduction.
Technical overview
Three movements, about 25 minutes: I. Allegro moderato – Cantabile (leading through a cadenza into) II. Theme varié (Andante, with variations including a Tempo di mazurka), III. Vivo – Allegro moderato. CelloBello notes chromatic double-stop scales in thirds and sixths, leaping octaves, a double-stop cadenza, unaccompanied arpeggios reaching the top of the range, and long cantabile lines in thumb position.