Regarded today as the embodiment of classical music at its most lyrical and poetic, composers have entrusted the cello with some of the loveliest melodies every penned. Yet, when it came to writing cello concertos, for most composers it was a “one and done” proposition. One of the major musical monuments in the cello literature is the Schumann Concerto, composed as Schumann himself said because “there are so few works for this lovely instrument.” In contrast, Soviet composer Dmitry Kabalevsky is one of the exceptions to the “one and done” rule. For a long time dismissed in the west as a mediocre apparatchik, a more evenhanded appraisal of Kabalevskyʼs work reveals a consummate craftsman with a natural gift for folk-inspired melodies and vivid orchestrations. The Cello Concerto no.2 in C minor, op.77, owes an obvious debt to his colleague and one-time neighbor Dmitri Shostakovich and is fully deserving of being more frequently played and programmed.

This album marks the recording debut of the young Norwegian cellist, Theodor Lyngstad. Following studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Morten Zeuthen, Lars Anders Tomter and David Geber at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, Theodor has been extremely active as a chamber musician as well as earning more than a few regional and national awards along the way, most significantly, the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize. In 2019, Lyngstad was appointed solo cellist in the Copenhagen Phil, the youngest musicians to attain that honour. Lyngstad is accompanied by the rising conductorial star Eva Ollikainen and the innovative Copenhagen Phil. Producer is the award-winning Daniel Davidsen.