Aural histories, the next gen

It might seem sheer folly for young artists to make new recordings of well-known concertos. They are competing with the great soloists of the past 100 years in a marketplace glutted with standard repertory. Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” to take but one example, has been recorded more than 200 times. Still, we count on each new crop of musicians to keep music alive.

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“The Secrets of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto”

Jan Vogler, cello. New York Philharmonic. David Robertson, conductor. (Sony Classical)

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THE secret to Dvorak’s concerto may be the composer’s reaction to the death of his sister-in-law, whom he secretly loved. This CD comes clothed in that context. Fascinating notes by Dvorak scholar Michel Beckerman set the tone. The disc includes performances of songs by Dvorak and Stephen Foster (sung by Angela Kirchschlager), with clues to hidden messages in the concerto. But the performance by the young German cellist is nothing out of the ordinary. Nor does Robertson get the New York Philharmonic to play as if it cared.

-- M.S.