Dutch cellist excited to play with Utah Symphony in S.L.

Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey will be making his Utah Symphony debut this coming weekend in Camille Saint-Saens' Concerto No. 1 in A minor.

In a phone interview from his home in Amsterdam, Wispelwey told the Deseret News he is looking forward to finally playing with the Utah Symphony and doing this particular concerto. "It's a unique piece and I always enjoy playing it. It's basically in one movement, and there is no slow section. Instead, Saint-Sa?s wrote a minuet type movement for the middle of the concerto which is exotic and rather typical in the way 19th century composers evoked an Eastern atmosphere." And while many cellists play the minuet slowly, it's marked Allegretto, a moderately fast tempo. "That's how I play it," Wispelwey said. "It shouldn't be taken slowly."

Wispelwey loves the A minor concerto, and it's been in his repertoire for many years. "It's very elegant and transparent, although it has some very interesting, obscure dark moments." He actually compares it to the music of Felix Mendelssohn. "It's easy listening, and when you get comfortable with it he starts juggling things around and mixes things up. It almost plays with you psychologically."

Several years ago, Wispelwey recorded the work with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. "We did it without a conductor, and it was quite interesting working with everyone in the orchestra on an individual basis," he said.

Throughout his career, Wispelwey has recorded extensively, including most of the major concertos. A few months ago, his label released his newest recording, the Benjamin Britten Cello Symphony with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra. "This is an amazing work. It's a huge piece and very dark." He has recently also released his second recording of the Antonin Dvorak concerto with Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. "This is a wonderful orchestra, and Fischer is wonderful to work with."

Playing and recording new music is important to Wispelwey, and he has the concertos by Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev in his repertoire. One work he still hasn't had the opportunity to record is Henri Dutilleux's concerto, "Tout un monde lointain." "I would love to do that," he said. "It is an incredible work and he is such an important composer."

Along with playing most of the 19th and 20th century cello literature, Wispelwey is also an ardent proponent of period instruments and performance practice. "It's a wonderful thing to do," he said. "It's very inspiring to play on period instruments because you get different colors and dynamics, and the music is much more transparent."