Music for Cello

Product Description Famed British composer Christopher Ball releases his brand-new Cello Concerto No. 1, his sixth concerto. The work is performed by the brilliant Stjepan Hauser - a rising star still in his twenties and a global YouTube sensation - with the Emerald Concert Orchestra. This work was recorded at its 2010 world premiere, and is coupled with seven concert pieces for cello and piano performed by Hauser and Yoko Misumi (including four arrangements of folksong favorites) and one work for solo cello written specifically for Stjepan Hauser. Stjepan Hauser was born in Croatia and recorded this CD in 2010 at the age of 24. This 'magician of the cello' has performed in the biggest venues of Europe as soloist with many major orchestras and is the winner of dozens of top laureates, awards, and competitions throughout the world. In October 2006 he was the only cellist chosen to perform in the Gala Concert at the Palazzio Vecchio in Florence for the late Rostropovich, who had proclaimed Stjepan to be the greatest young cellist he had ever heard. His mass crossover appeal is evident by his appearances on television (such as the highly popular 'Ellen' program in the United States) and the over six million views one of his videos has received on the internet, a cover of Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' with fellow cellist Luka Sulic. He is one of the most charismatic performers imaginable and is set to take center stage in the world of the cello. Christopher Ball was awarded scholarships to study clarinet and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, and pursued a highly distinguished conducting and performing career. In 1971, Ball founded the early music ensemble the Praetorius Consort, playing recorders and numerous other early wind instruments, and later also founded the London Baroque Trio in which he played recorder. As a composer, Christopher Ball is entirely self-taught but has received many commissions to compose and arrange light orchestral music for the BBC. His aim is to compose music which will communicate with and appeal to as wide an audience as possible, and therefore he does not pursue an atonal or avant-garde style. Review A composer of rare brilliance. --Recorder magazine [regarding his Violin Concerto:] Exquisite music... worthy of the highest praise. --Classic FM Magazine