Podcast: Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Cello Concerto. A radiant rediscovery.

The composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco moved from Italy to the US during the turmoil of the Second World War. That he should have been immediately befriended by such musical giants as violinist Jascha Heifetz and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky speaks reams about the respect the Italian engendered. His Cello Concerto was commissioned by Piatigorsky, who premiered the work in 1935. This recording captures the first ever performance since that occasion. The programme is completed by transcriptions that Castelnuovo-Tedesco made especially for Heifetz and Piatigorsky, including the work that gained the distinction of being the last piece that Heifetz performed in public. Raymond Bisha introduces soloist Brinton Averil Smith in this long overdue affirmation of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s legacy for the cello.