Corinne Morris and BBC Philharmonic to Debut Nimrod Borenstein's New Cello Concerto

Following the great success of her recent album Chrysalis (Linn Records), Corinne Morriswill give the world premiere of Nimrod Borenstein's Cello Concerto No. 2, alongside the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra on 5th June, 2018. Frederic Chaslin will conduct, at BBC Philharmonic Studio, Salford.

The concerto, written for Morris, is intended to be "a large-scale, muscular concerto in the grand tradition of Dvorak, Shostokovich and Elgar", according to its composer. This followed an idea by the cellist, who felt that these kinds of 'big' concertos for cello were increasingly rare. Borenstein, who has a long-standing artistic relationship with Morris, was happy to oblige. "Corinne has a certain scale and richness to her playing, which gives the composer that facility, and it's a joy to have that kind of canvass." he says.

Having been forced to stop performing for more than five years by a severe muscle injury, Morris is riding high after her recent return, with her album Chrysalis - concertos by Haydn, Monn and concert works by Couperin, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, on Linn - having hit number two on the UK Specialist Classical Chart, number four on the Classical Artist Albums Chart and number six on the Classic FM Chart. That album was also selected as one of "the best recordings of autumn 2017" by Classic FM, "Drivetime Discovery" and recording of the week by BBC Radio Scotland. " Morris...brings a beautifully smooth, darkly glowing tone and immense lyricism", wrote Gramophone.

Borenstein's own most recent recording, of his Violin Concerto and two orchestral works with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Oxford Philharmonic for Chandos, also garnered a great deal of praise including BBC Music Magazine's "Concerto Choice" - said their review of his Violin Concerto, "There are moments when the ghosts of Prokofiev (the Second Concerto, especially), Khachaturian and Walton pass fleetingly over the music's swirling, colourful textures, yet the overriding sensation here is of an exuberantly inventive composer with a symphonic instinct exhilarating in the concerto medium."

Frederic Chaslin is one of the world's leading conductors. As Music Director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, previously of Santa Fe Opera, and elsewhere, he has premiered works by many important composers, and he is himself a noted composer. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra is in turn famous for its commitment to new writing.

"Nimrod Borenstein's cello concerto adds a major new work to the cello repertoire and I am excited and honoured to be performing the world premiere with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Frederic Chaslin," says Corinne Morris, adding her thanks for the generous support of the Shulman-Van Regemorter family.

Watch a trailer for Corinne Morris's album Chrysalis here, and a trailer for Nimrod Borenstein's Violin Concerto recording here.

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