The winner of the very first Queen Elisabeth Competition for cellists in Brussels in 2017, Victor Julien-Laferrière joined Alpha Classics in 2019 for several recordings. After a first recital album devoted to Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Denisov in the company of the pianist Jonas Vitaud, he now presents two cello concertos by Antonín Dvořák (the Second in B Minor, Op. 104) and Bohuslav Martinů (the First, H. 196), accompanied by the Liège Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Gergely Madaras.
The two composers, born in Bohemia in 1841 and 1890 respectively, shared a strong attachment to the music of their homeland and a significant American experience - even if the reason for their travels was very different: Dvořák was director of the National Conservatory of New York from 1892 to 1895 (during which time he composed the "From the New World" Symphony and his Second Cello Concerto presented here) while Martinů emigrated to the United States during the Second World War and remained there until 1953, composing dozens of successful and important works. With this recording, Victor Julien-Laferrière couples two key works for his instrument by eminent members of the Czech school. © Alpha Classics