I listened to the Cello Concerto the other day in this version;
I can't fault the performance - but I found I had the same reaction I do every time I listen to this work. Love the opening movement and then as it procedes my interest wanes and by the end I'm almost bored. Still don't know why. The couplings on this naxos disc are great - Peter Donohoe is such a fine pianist. But is there an odder piece than the Grand Fantasia & Toccata. Starts as Bach on steroids for about the first seven solo minutes then hammers away with the orchestra too before the six minute early Walton toccata/fugato. More fun to listen to than my description might read. But how on earth do you programme this? It sounds hard for the soloist and feels 'big' but at just 15 minutes is not a "concerto" and a bit long as an opener!
Although the Finzi is one of my all-time favorite cello concerti, I can understand your reservations regarding the first movement. It has a gripping opening and, later on, a soulful cadenza which builds up steam to a desperately intense coda which ends with a “scream into the abyss” (perhaps I’m reading too much into it
). But yes, the middle chunk of the movement does tend to meander a bit. Surely you can’t have any reservations about the slow movement and finale, though?
To me, the slow movement is one of the purest expressions of heartfelt longing ever written, and the finale sounds to me like “smiling in the face of sadness” with its indomitable sense of joy that’s slightly tinged with melancholy. In light of Finzi’s close-to-death circumstances while writing the work I find it all tremendously moving!
