Cello Unwrapped at King’s Place, London

Raphael Wallfisch returns to Cello Unwrapped, this time with the Orchestra of the Swan for a special concert of British music, taking us from Elgar’s elegant Introduction and Allegro to the young Britten’s freshly inventive Variations on a theme by Frank Bridge. In between we encounter two rarities, Edmund Rubbra’s haunting Soliloquy and Ireland’s sonata, a darkly turbulent work illuminated anew in an arrangement for soloist and strings. Wallfisch will bring all the burnished intensity of his sound to Imogen Holst’s poignant response to a 17th century tune, The Fall of the Leaf.

‘Any more compellingly idiomatic or richly seasoned cello playing than this would be hard to contemplate.’ International Record Review

For more information and tickets click here

Good morning Amsterdam!

Lovely publicity for Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch residency at Amsterdam’s perfect Concertgebouw.

Pick of the week!

Raphael Wallfisch photographed, to rapturous applause, at the end of his performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by David Hill at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

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“Soloist Raphael Wallfisch’s performance eschewed the usual head-tossing abandon; instead it was contained, as if always holding something in reserve, and none the worse for that”  Evening Standard

Never (yet) performed! Weigl Cello Concerto

Raphael Wallfisch and the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Milton have been busy recording Karl Weigl’s Cello Concerto. The work, despite its composition in 1934, has never been performed.

Wallfisch’s performance will appear in a series of recordings with Classic Produktion Osnabrück (CPO) of cello music by Jewish composers who lost their voices in exile.  Many of the composers to be included in the series — Weigl, Hans Gál, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Berthold Goldschmidt, Franz Reizenstein, Robert Starer, and Ernest Bloch — had a connection either to Wallfisch’s parents, who were exiles themselves, or to his teacher Gregor Piatigorsky.

For more on the project see http://nickythomasmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Raphael-Wallfisch-Berlin-Recording-project-press-release.pdf

New release: British concertos

“When I first listened to Raphael Wallfisch playing the Gerald Finzi Cello Concerto, in this two-CD re-issue by Chandos (to be released in North America on May 27, 2016), I thought to myself that it was amazing”

The full review is available here