After two exceptional years, this second edition of the Queen Elisabeth Competition for cello has rekindled the enthusiasm of the public that is awakened each year by this major event in Belgian and international musical life.
The box set with 4 CDs featuring the best moments from the 2022 Cello Competition highlights the great diversity of the repertoire for this instrument, even though it is resolutely focused on 20th-century music, as reflected in the performances of the laureates from this session.
It begins with the masterful interpretation of Lutosławski's Concerto by winner Hayoung Choi, followed by Jörg Widmann's mandatory work performed by Marcel Johannes Kits (Third Prize) and Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1 by Yibai Chen (Second Prize), accompanied by Brussels Philharmonic under the direction of Stéphane Denève.
The second CD takes us back more than two centuries, with Haydn's concertos performed by Marcel Johannes Kits and Bryan Cheng (Sixth Prize), in the company of the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie under the direction of Vahan Mardirossian. Then follow two sonatas by Boccherini, performed by Oleksiy Shadrin (Fourth Prize) and Taeguk Mun, heard during the first round. Three magnificent cello sonatas shape the third disc: first Shostakovich's by Petar Pejčić (Fifth Prize), Franck's by Stéphanie Huang and Schubert's Arpeggione by Jeremias Fliedl.
We then briefly return to the 20th century to close this CD box with, among others, the sonata by Britten performed by Hayoung Choi, Ligeti's by Yibai Chen and Schnittke's by Oleksiy Shadrin.
The twelve laureates from this 2022 session provide with their musical personalities an original program in which you can find, from June 11th onwards, some of the most beautiful pages from this Queen Elisabeth Competition.
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