Mischa Maisky plays Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

“If I had known that it was possible to compose such a concerto for the cello,” Brahms is reported to have said upon hearing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor, “I would have tried it myself!” But this masterpiece is distinctly Dvořák’s, rendered unforgettably here with the great Mischa Maisky’s unique spirit and vision from the stunning Lugano Arte e Cultura.

One of the all-time supreme pieces for the cello, the final concerto of Dvořák’s career combines formidable virtuosity with explosive pathos and aching wistfulness, often in close proximity. The noble, stately first movement leads into an exquisitely tender Adagio, followed by an irresistibly rhythmic finale that ends with a heartstopping juxtaposition: the whispered reprise of a melody beloved by Dvořák’s ailing sister-in-law—who died soon after the work’s composition—clears the air before an ecstatic, spine-tingling fortissimo, one of the most thrilling final statements in the concert repertoire.