Cello Music Inspired by World War II

Kristina Reiko Cooper with her cello on the cover of her new album

This past March, Delos released an album of music for cello and orchestra featuring Kristina Reiko Cooper as soloist, performing with the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra under the baton on Constantine Orbelian. None of these names were familiar to me, but my attention was definitely piqued by the two composers on the album: Mieczysław Weinberg and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. They provide the “bookends” for two cello concerto’s Weinberg’s Opus 43 in C minor and Korngold’s Opus 37 in C major. In addition, the Weinberg concerto is followed by his Opus 52 “Fantasy” for cello and orchestra.

Those aware of the column on the right side of the page may notice that I have had a fair amount of interest in both of these composers, most (if not all) of which has been realized through listening to recordings. Both of them had their lives uprooted when they had to escape Nazi invasion during World War II. Ironically they fled in different directions with Weinberg ending up in Moscow and Korngold in Hollywood. I had been aware of Korngold for quite some time prior to beginning my writing gig, while Weinberg was a source for some of my earliest writing.

This was my first encounter with Cooper, and I was definitely pleased with the expressiveness that she brought to both of the composers. However, now that she has established my attention, I would be interested in how she approaches the more familiar repertoire. Mind you, cellists have had a major role in my activities since the very beginning of my writing; but this morning’s encounter made it clear that there is always room in my attention span for one more of them!