Supporting the 'Extreme Cello' challenge

Robert Cohen supports the Extreme Cellists in their challenge to climb the four tallest mountains in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland all in one day! They will perform on their cellos when they reach the peaks, raising money for charity.

To read more click here

Press reaction to the Finzi Cello Concerto

Robert Cohen, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Paul Daniel
Cadogan Hall, London 1 April 2008

“with such impassioned playing from Cohen, equally convincing in the declamatory episodes as in the lyrical rapture, the concerto almost feels like Finzi’s large-scale masterpiece…Cohen’s championship is hugely welcome.” John Allison, Sunday Telegraph

“Robert Cohen was a magnificent soloist, and a very persuasive advocate for this demanding work; he played it as if he’s been playing it all his life. His interpretation of the lyrical music – and there is a lot of it in this work – brought out the songlike quality of Finzi’s ideas, and if there’s one thing Finzi’s music does do, it sings.” Bob Briggs, Seen and Heard

“Strong emotions are at work in this music. Cohen, the RPO and conductor Paul Daniel expressed them forcefully, allowing the passion full rein and cosseting the more tender, calmer moments of the central andante.” Geoffrey Norris, The Telegraph

“Two thirds of Gerald Finzi's Cello Concerto - his last major work, first performed in 1955 - is an outstanding score, as fine as anything composed for the instrument since Elgar's concerto. ... a tone of regretful nostalgia haunts the first two movements. But that is blown away by the forced jauntiness of the finale, a parading of the proverbial English stiff upper lip that doesn't transfer well to music. Yet, as Robert Cohen's passionately eloquent performance with the Royal Philharmonic in the orchestra's English music series showed, much of what precedes that problematic last movement is remarkable: Finzi's particular brand of lyricism is as finely focused here as anywhere in his output, and the central andante's fleeting references to the Angel's music from Elgar's Dream of Gerontius are immensely touching.” Andrew Clements, The Guardian


Robert Cohen on the Finzi Cello Concerto (published in the 1st April concert programme):

Hidden in the soulful repertoire for cello and orchestra is Finzi's Cello Concerto. Hidden only because Finzi suffers the neglect caused by the phases of fashion - as many other composers do too. Phases not created by musicians, audiences or promoters, but by the consequence of time; new music is introduced and some older music is then revived only periodically. Otherwise such a grand, powerful and moving work would maintain its rightful place in mainstream concert programming.

And so it is a special pleasure to reveal to you a concerto in which Finzi has used the enormous emotional and dynamic range of the cello to express his passionate feelings.
It is a work not dissimilar in its 'Englishness' to the Elgar concerto and in its colouring to the Walton. I find great excitement playing the great sweeping gestures, juxtaposed with the most tender and delicate of phrases. The first two movements are quite heartbreaking, with many moments seeming to reflect a dying man's poignant memories of his life.

Be ready for innovation too; the opening of the last movement uses the most unusual pizzicato writing as a bridge from the breathtaking end of the slow movement to the optimistic and uplifting finale. You will undoubtedly go away in an ebullient mood!

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