A solo viola plays Sancho Panza, Don’s sidekick.

The brilliant tone poem Don Quixote by Richard Strauss, based on the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, was written as a showpiece for the principal cello within the orchestral texture. More rarely you might hear Bloch’s transcendent Schelomo, Rhapsodie Hebraïque for Violoncelle et Grand Orchestra, depicting Solomon’s lamentation from Ecclesiastes, (there is a wonderful historic recording with Emanuel Feuermann) or perhaps the concertos by Walton, Hindemith, Barber or Prokofiev.

The two Haydn concertos, which are the essence of grace and virtuosity, are performed frequently.ĭuring the Romantic era, composers started to take notice of the cello including Elgar, Saint-Saëns, Shostakovich, Lalo and Schumann as well as Tchaikovsky with his Rococo Variations. 9 is popular (beautifully played by Jacqueline du Pré.) Vivaldi wrote an astonishing 25 concertos for cello but they are rarely performed. Only a few composers wrote cello concertos before the 19th century.

Vivaldi double cello concerto