Wen-Sinn Yang - Saint-Saëns, Lalo & Martin: Cello Works (2016)

This purely French program prepared by Wen-Sinn Yang and Michael Hofstetter contains works for cello by Camille Saint-Saens, Edouard Lalo, and Frank Martin. Camille Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor was composed for Belgian viola da gamba player, cellist, and instrument maker, Auguste Tolbecque. Sir Donald Francis Tovey wrote of the piece: “Here, for once, is a violoncello concerto in which the solo instrument displays every register without the slightest difficulty in penetrating the orchestra. Many composers such as Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich, considered Saint-Saens’ concerto to be the finest concerto of all time. Wen-Sinn Yang began his career as principal cellist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at the young age of 24. Since then he has recorded over 20 CDs, and has won numerous awards.