Antonio VIVALDI (1678–1741)
Concertos for Two Cellos
Astor PIAZZOLLA (1921–1992)^*
Milonga for two cellos
from Concerto for Bandoneon and Guitar † *

Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber, Cellos
David Wright, Harpsichord and Chamber Organ
European Union Chamber Orchestra • Hans-Peter Hofmann

† WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS
* Arrangements by Julian Lloyd Webber

The first arranger of Vivaldi’s concertos was Vivaldi himself, and Julian Lloyd Webber’s new versions in this recording reflect the composer’s pragmatic attitude and zest for experiment. Vivaldi’s Concerto in G minor RV 531 is his only original concerto for two cellos. Alongside this appear works both popular and recently discovered, the mercurial moods of the cellos representing instruments from mandolins to hunting horns. Piazzolla’s Milonga displays all of his most distinctive hallmarks. Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber’s acclaimed album A Tale of Two Cellos can be found on Naxos 8.573251.

Julian Lloyd Webber

Julian Lloyd Webber is one of today’s leading musicians. He has given the premières of more than fifty new works for cello and has inspired new compositions from composers as diverse as Malcolm Arnold and Joaquín Rodrigo to Philip Glass and Eric Whitacre. His many recordings include his Brit Award-winning Elgar Concerto conducted by Yehudi Menuhin (chosen as the finest ever version by BBC Music Magazine), the Delius Concerto with Vernon Handley and the Philharmonia, the Dvořák Concerto with Václav Neumann and the Czech Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the London Symphony under Maxim Shostakovich and a coupling of Britten’s Cello Symphony and Walton’s Concerto with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, which was described by Gramophone magazine as “beyond any rival”.

Jiaxin Lloyd Webber

Jiaxin Lloyd Webber graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music, China, in 1997. She was already giving performances with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra but left China for further studies in New Zealand where she received her Master’s Degree at the University of Auckland in 2001. While in New Zealand she was principal cello of the Auckland Chamber Orchestra and played regularly with both the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Jiaxin Lloyd Webber was also a founding member of the Aroha String Quartet. Since moving to London in 2007 she has performed as a soloist at the Royal Festival Hall and broadcast for BBC Radio 3. Jiaxin is married to fellow cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.

Hans-Peter Hoffmann

Hans-Peter Hofmann has toured as a soloist and chamber music player in England, France Holland, Spain and Austria where he has performed in both the Vienna Musikverein and the Vienna Konzerthaus. In 1999 he founded the Ensemble Plus and in 2006 joined the Ensemble Les Dissonances in Paris. He has broadcast on Berlin Radio, Süddeutscher Rundfunk and Südwestfunk in Germany and on Swiss and Austrian Radio and has made seventeen recordings of repertoire ranging from Baroque to Jazz.