Dvorak's Cello Concerto

The BBC Proms are back in the Royal Albert Hall in London with a six-week season of concerts featuring leading British orchestras as well as international soloists and conductors.

Broadcast programme:
Dvořák - Cello Concerto in B minor

Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Domingo Hindoyan (conductor)

Even though Dvořák also wrote concertos for the piano and for the violin, it is his Cello Concerto that remains a cornerstone of the Romantic repertoire. Exploring the full range of cello expression from high drama to quiet contemplation, the work was written at a time of emotional distress for the composer: as he was working on it in his New York apartment he received the news that, back in his native Bohemia, his first love - and later sister-in-law - was seriously ill. In response, Dvořák quoted in the second and third movements of the Concerto her favourite among the many songs he had composed.

Since winning the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, Sheku Kanneh-Mason has released several acclaimed albums, one of which climbed to No. 8 in the overall UK Official Album Chart, making Sheku the first cellist to reach the UK Top 10.

[Photo: Sheku Kanneh-Mason and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic at the 2021 BBC Proms. Credit: Chris Christodoulou/BBC]