Oh, not another Dvořák Cello Concerto recording, you would be justified in asking. Well, yes and no. This is indeed a special one, but not only for the superb performance the German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser gives with the Prague Philharmonia under Jakub Hrůša of this most popular of all cello concertos. What makes this disc practically indispensable is its inclusion of the less frequently heard Lalo concerto in the best account I have heard since Pierre Fournier recorded it many years ago with Jean Martinon and the Lamoureux Orchestra for DG.

Jean-Jacques Kantorow follows his critically acclaimed recording of music by Édouard Lalo with a second disc featuring two further works that were originally intended for Sarasate, the brief Fantaisie-ballet on themes from Lalo’s ballet Namouna, and the large-scale Concerto russe. The Concerto russe borrows themes from two wedding songs included by Rimsky-Korsakov in his collection 100 Russian Folk Songs.

Unlike some of the old RCA and Columbia Records classical works on LP, the DGG performances are excellent for getting the dynamics as realistic as possible, and this is an excellent example of this. Lalo I believe was French but with Spanish ancestry, I presume that is why he was paired with Bizet. But I find their styles of composition are not alike. Lalo loves to use various tempos of 3, either waltz type tempos or 6/8, but what I find interesting is that his music can at times be very fiery, probably due to the Spanish influence. This is displayed in many of the pieces in CD#2, and I've not found another composer who does this so effectively. He also is a master of orchestral color, using castanets, cymbals, and other percussion perfectly.

Saint-Saëns's reputation rests on a few popular works–Danse Macabre, Symphony No. 3, The Carnival of the Animals–but his output was far more vast and varied than most people realize. The Third Violin Concerto is one of the great Romantic masterpieces for the instrument, yet it's much less popular than it once was. Whatever the reasons, they certainly aren't Itzhak Perlman's fault, for he simply plays the daylights out of both this piece and Lalo's ever popular Symphonie espagnole. I'm always amazed, when listening to the Saint-Saëns composition, just how well-written it is, and how good it always sounds. Perhaps his level of sheer craftsmanship was so high that people lose sight of the music's genuine inspiration.

Which once-famous cellist toured with his own version of Jimi Hendrix's notorious "Star-Spangled Banner" and booked to play the Bach Cello Suites in nightclubs? Matt Haimovitz, herd here when he was not yet twenty, was heading off to Harvard (in the footsteps of Yo-Yo- Ma), and boasted a contract with DG. Despite brilliant reviews, the contract was canceled, and a disenchanted Haimovitz went his own way, achieving an offbeat career. He now teaches at Mcgill Univ. in canada, having spent a long time in Boston and Amherst. No doubt he's satisfied, yet one can't help but remember F. Scott Fitzgerald's remark about no second acts in American literature. Now it's also music.