Poltéra Plays Prokofiev Christian Poltéra, Juho Pohjonen, Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Anja Bihlmaier

• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Symphony-Concerto in E Minor, Op. 125:
• 1Prokofiev: Symphony-Concerto in E Minor, Op. 125: I. Andante10:38
• 2Prokofiev: Symphony-Concerto in E Minor, Op. 125: II. Allegro giusto18:07
• 3Prokofiev: Symphony-Concerto in E Minor, Op. 125: III. Andante con moto - Vivace - Allegretto - Allegro marcato - Poco meno mosso10:21
• Sonata for Cello Solo, Op. 134:
• 4Prokofiev: Sonata for Cello Solo, Op. 134 (Arr. by Vladimir Blok)07:35
• Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119:
• 5Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119: I. Andante grave - Moderato animato - Andante - Allegro moderato10:16
• 6Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119: II. Moderato - Andante dolce - Moderato primo04:39
• 7Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119: III. Allegro, ma non troppo - Andantino - Allegro, ma non troppo07:48
• Total Runtime01:09:24

Info for Poltéra Plays Prokofiev

The three works gathered here date from Sergei Prokofiev's last years. Despite his declining health as well as the oppressive political climate, the composer could count on the support of great musicians, in particular the cellist Mstislav Rostropovitch. The relationship contributed to the writing of works for cello. The first was the Symphony-Concerto, an improved reworking of a much earlier cello concerto. As in all of Prokofiev's large-scale compositions, we find striking gestures of contrast and confrontation, disturbing juxtapositions of mood, powerful rhetoric followed by sudden passages of tender reflection. The Sonata for Cello solo is an unfinished work: a broad and eloquent Andante is heard here in the completion by Vladimir Blok. Finally, the solemn and poetic Sonata for Cello and Piano seems like an oasis of serenity in the midst of Soviet dictatorship. In a clear form devoid of anything that might have shocked the authorities, the work belongs to Prokofiev's best works thanks to its wealth of melody, from beginning to end. Technical challenges are not absent, as demonstrated by the huge range of cello techniques. Performed by Christian Poltera, these three works bear witness to Prokofiev's creative vitality in the evening of his life, expressed in a simple, clear musical language linked to a new sense of vitality in the face of adversity.

Christian Poltéra, cello
Juho Pohjonen, piano
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Anja Bihlmaier, conductor

Christian Poltéra
was born in Zürich. After receiving tuition from Nancy Chumachenco and Boris Pergamenschikow, he studied with Heinrich Schiff in Salzburg and Vienna.

As a soloist he works with eminent orchestras including the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Chamber Orchestra of Europe under such conductors as Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Andris Nelsons and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

He also devotes himself intensively to chamber music together with such musicians as Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Leif Ove Andsnes, Mitsuko Uchida, Lars Vogt, Kathryn Stott, Esther Hoppe and Ronald Brautigam, and with the Auryn, Zehetmair and Hagen Quartets. Together with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Antoine Tamestit, Christian Poltéra has formed a string trio, the Trio Zimmermann, which performs at most prestigious concert venues and festivals all over Europe.

In 2004 he received the Borletti-Buitoni Award and was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist.

He is a regular guest at renowned festivals (such as Salzburg, Lucerne, Berlin, Edinburgh and Vienna) and made his BBC Proms début in 2007. Christian Poltéra’s discography, which has won acclaim from the international press, reflects his varied repertoire that includes the concertos by Dvorak, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski, Walton, Hindemith and Barber as well as chamber music by Prokofiev, Fauré, Beethoven and Schubert.

Christian Poltéra teaches at the Lucerne University. He plays a Antonio Casini cello built in 1675 and the famous "Mara" Stradivari from 1711.

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