A personal approach to cello concertos
Solo cello works by J.S. Bach and Benjamin Britten are back to back in Joe Johnson’s Sunday, Oct. 9 Placitas Artists Series concert. They are Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 1” and Britten’s “Cello Suite No. 3.”
“I wanted to do those two pieces together,” Johnson said in a phone interview. “In my opinion, they’re the two best composers for solo cello that I’ve been able to find, though they are so far apart in years.”
In years and in centuries. Bach lived into the mid-18th century. Britten died in 1976.
Many people aren’t familiar with the Britten, Johnson said, but every time he plays it, the audience is blown away.
It’s in nine movements, but played continuously. Performing it virtually nonstop, he’s got to bring the audience along with him and the music.
He likes telling audiences about what they can expect to hear.
Of Britten’s three cello suites, the third is his “most introspective, most pensive, but incredibly powerful and deep, aside from the technical demands,” Johnson said.
In general, he takes pleasure in preparing recital audiences and his chats make the concert more personal, for the performer and for the listener.
“We’re in the same room and this gives them some hints of what to look forward to, something to latch onto,” Johnson said.
The first movement of Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 1” is well known, but less so the subsequent five movements.
“It’s wonderful, it’s glorious and full of joy. It’s a great way to start a program,” he said.
Johnson is the principal cellist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He recently performed at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and has played with the Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the Virtuosi Festival in Brazil.