1 May 2020
The Music department has shared with the school community part of the performance that Oliver Simpson played at a concert back in December at The Perse School in Cambridge with an amateur orchestra. The concerto is one of the greatest works in the repertoire, certainly the equal of Elgar’s great Cello Concerto. Even Brahms, whom Dvorak greatly admired, loved this work and, when asked why he hadn’t yet written a cello concerto, Brahms replied that he couldn’t surpass that of Dvorak – high praise, indeed. The closest that Brahms got was his own Double Concerto in A minor for violin and cello, which is also a sublime work.
The concerto presents particular technical, physical and musical challenges and it is most unusual for a young cellist to tackle this work. Oliver does so, however, with tremendous success. Congratulations to him!
