Even before it became accessible to British record collectors through the EMI recording with Julian Lloyd Webber, Victor Herbert's Second Cello Concerto had long been available on record in the US in a recording by Bernard Greenhouse conducted by Max Schonherr. By contrast the First Concerto has, I believe, remained unrecorded until now, and indeed was apparently unpublished until 1975. Quite why it should suffer such relative obscurity is not immediately obvious from listening to the two works. If not quite so intense as the Second Concerto, the First contains the same characteristics of romantic warmth and passion, rewarding writing for the solo instrument and subtle interplay of soloist and orchestra, and if anything has more melodic appeal. The second movement, with a sprightly scherzo section framed by an affecting andante and closing with the soloist at the very top of the cello register, is a real winner. If the finale becomes a shade repetitive and ends somewhat abruptly, it none the less offers a heartwarmingly joyful main theme and some dazzling instrumental and orchestral effects.
So I have no doubt that anyone who has enjoyed the second Herbert concerto should find it rewarding to investigate this new recording, the more so because Lynn Harrell finds a degree of emotional involvement and variety of tone that make Lloyd Webber in the Second Concerto sound bland by comparison. Where Mackerras's more dynamic accompaniment seems somewhat at odds with his soloist's more easy-going approach, here all is much more in accord.
The five further short pieces that go towards making this an especially well-filled disc comprise an original piece for cello and piano (Pensee amoureuse) plus four piano compositions (including the especially attractive Punchinello) that have been arranged for cello and strings by Sam Dennison. They help to make this a most rewarding issue for anyone attracted to late-nineteenth-century works for cello and orchestra.'