# Poor cello playing (or is it in the score)



## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

I only know of one recording of N. Kraft's 1815 Cello Conc. 1. It has been released on CD and is also here ...





Nicolaus Kraft - Cello Concerto No.1 in E-minor, Op.3 (1815)

I do like this piece. Not sure about THIS performance, however. If you listen for a few minutes, you may notice that cellist (Jiří Hošek) seem to play out-of-tune, almost sounding like a young, student player. 
I don't read music so don't know how the composer intended it to be played. I can't imagine it would be this poor.

Give it listen ...


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I've never heard of this - thanks for bringing it to our attention. Arkiv doesn't even list it. So here's the deal: Hosek is no Yo Yo Ma, Rostropovich, Harnoy, Bailey, Piatagorsky or any of the great cellists. He is, though, very good - he has tone, phrasing, rhythm, and sometimes suspect intonation. Recording off beat repertoire like this is a gamble, and no leading player is going to take the time to learn it and record it. As so often happens with obscure repertoire, it's delegated to 2nd and 3rd rate players, and as an avid collector of obscure music I am very grateful to those players. Yo Yo is never going to play this with the Berlin Philharmonic and Petrenko. It's only in some of the faster technically complicated parts that the intonation is iffy. And I've heard a lot worse, trust me. You want bad string playing, listen to Yehudi Menuhin or Isaac Stern, yet their careers were spectacular. This isn't bad playing, really it isn't.


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

mbhaub said:


> This isn't bad playing, really it isn't.


Like I said, I like concerto. But when he hits those certain notes, it's like nails on a chalkboard. I didn't think a formal recording with this many "errors" would be allowed. The rest of the orch. hold their own, however.

Hmm ... The other Nicolaus Kraft cello concertos have also been recorded by the same group. I'll have a listen and see if things improve.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

The first section of rapid playing is pitchy.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

This is a new one for me and I am listening on my new lap and enjoying it, I would buy no problem, with that I will have another red then of to bed, thanks for posting.


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

Nicolaus Kraft is the son of another (more famous???) composer Anton Kraft who has perhaps a more famous (but sole) cello concert:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cello_Concerto_(Kraft)

And it has been released on a few CDs and LPs, including:










A very good concerto!


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