Herbert and Dvorak

Yet another recording of the Dvorak cello concerto in B minor, Op. 104 has been added to my listening library. This time it's the young French guy by the name of Gautier Capuçon. The difference with this recording from the playlist standpoint is the pairing of the Victor Herbert (1859-1924) concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30 with Dvorak. Rather than the usual Rococo by Tchaikovsky or the Schumann concerto he decided on the practically unknown Herbert. I had seen the Yo-Yo Ma recording on my Dad's shelf but I had opted to listen only to Bloch's Schelomo, totally neglecting this guy named Victor Herbert. Assuming that since I hadn't heard about him all through college I wouldn't bother with it.

Thankfully, I did choose the Capucon recording of the Dvorak concerto. Just today I listened to his CD. No, not Dvorak, Herbert was the reason I turned to the recording today. Why, the interest in Herbert so suddenly? I was thumbing through The Great Cellists by M. Campbell and happened to read the section on Herbert. Unbeknownst to me, he was not only a fairly popular composer of operettas in his day but he was a sought after cellist until an arm injury forced him from the cello chair to the podium and more emphasis on composition. However, before the performance career ended he premiered his own cello concerto no. 2 in E minor in 1894 in New York.

It was after this premiere that Dvorak comes into picture and hence the tying in of the title of the post. I mean the real reason to have mentioned him in the first place. Dvorak heard the concerto, although it is not clear if it was the actual performance with Herbert playing the solo cello part. It was after listening to it that Dvorak decided that he, too, should write a cello concerto and he would compose it in similar fashion.

Well, there it is. Thank you Herbert for writing your second cello concerto and performing it while Dvorak was in the U.S. Without it, we may have gotten a very different cello concerto from the Czech genius or quite possibly none at all.