Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2 Op. 126 - Jan Vogler, Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev

[@andreaspreisser4745]

Fantastic Performance, both soloist and orchestra

[@michaelweiner4836]

There are things I liked about this performance. But the first movement was way too fast! It's marked Largo, and it was played more like an Andante, often a fast Andante. The last movement is Allegretto, but it tipped into Allegro territory a few times. It takes away the emotional impact for me when the orchestra (and soloist) are racing through the piece like they have somewhere else they'd rather be. JMO

[@janvogler228]

Thank you for your comment. I am the cellist in the video. ;-) I like to make one point. The original metronome marking for the first movement is 100 for the quarters. Very fast for Largo, or in other words, a hidden alla breve, in 2= 50 for half bars. The 2nd movement is also 100, for the half bars. So it should be pretty much double tempo. The last movement is again 100 for the half bars, so pretty much same tempo. You are right that I am slightly over 100 for all 3 movements. But I wanted to bring out the overarching architecture of the 1st and last movement, that I feel gets lost easily. Anyway, all very personal. But there is some thought behind it, since I love this piece very much.

[@jdj830]

@@janvogler228I just wanted to tell you that I’ve been trying to get into this concerto for some time now and after listening to several versions this is the performance that had me riveted from beginning to end, and I think your choice of tempi had a lot to do with it. This piece is not lugubrious mortality porn, it’s a story being told, that’s as much about life as about death. I don’t think the first movement is any “deeper” when stretched out to nearly twenty minutes, it’s just less coherent. (It’s reminding me of an argument I had when rehearsing Beethoven’s Ghost Trio about the tempo of the second movement. The violinist wanted to take it at an incredibly slow tempo - which to be fair is akin to what many ensembles used to do - while I wanted to take it a tempo where the melodies where recognizable and singable and there was more of a throughline. I told her that I thought the movement was about walking through a graveyard, not falling asleep in one. The pianist was in love with the violinist so I lost and we did it her way. Oh well.) Anyway thank you Mr. Vogler for unlocking the door to this masterpiece for me. I’m writing an article about cello concertos for the radio station I work for and will cite this performance when I mention this piece.

[@janvogler3557]

@@jdj830 Thank you, that makes my day!

[@johnpaterson6112]

Marvellous playing, dreadful music. Where are the melodies? There is nothing to hum on the way home!

[@pierfrancescopeperoni]

How can you not hear the melodies? I've been humming this concerto almost every morning this week! 😂