One of Britain’s best known and loved international masters of the cello, Raphael Wallfisch, returns to Ely Cathedral on Saturday 1st October to play one of the most poignant pieces in the cello repertoire, Dvorak’s 2nd cello concerto in B minor, accompanied by the area’s best-known orchestra, the Ely Sinfonia. The concert, which will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the year for Ely Sinfonia and Ely Cathedral, also includes Wagner's stirring overture to Tannhauser and the ever popular Hary Janos suite by Kodaly.
The sheer emotion expressed in Dvořák’s 2nd cello concerto reflects his sorrow at the serious illness and subsequent death of Josefina Cermakova, his first great love. No wonder Brahms was moved to say: “Why on earth didn’t I know that one could write a cello concerto like that?”; and no wonder it is one of the most loved concertos of all.
Tannhäuser and Háry János are no less well known in their own ways. “Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg” is an opera based on the legend of a knight, Tannhäuser, who abandons the woman he loves for the goddess Venus. In contrast, the Háry János suite is a rumbustious romp based on a Hungarian folk story about a veteran hussar from Austrian army, who sits in the local tavern spinning yarns about his past life. Not only (he says) did he win the heart of the Empress Marie Louise, the wife of Napoleon, but he then defeated Napoleon and his armies - single-handedly. Despite it all, he finally renounced all riches in order to go back to his village with his sweetheart.