Antonín Dvořák wrote his first Cello Concerto in A major B.10 in 1865.
Unlike its brother, the B minor Concerto, Op.104, the A major Concerto has been more than overlooked. Written for cellist Ludevít Peer, it was discovered by composer Günter Raphael years later. Raphael orchestrated and heavily edited the work in the late 1920s, making it more his own than Dvořák's. The Concerto was left un-orchestrated by Dvořák, existing only in piano-score form. Over an hour long, the Concerto's outer movements are each around 25 minutes long, with a short (c. 8 minutes) slow movement.
The 1970s brought another editor of the Concerto, a Dvořák expert Jarmil Burghauser. He, along with the great cellist Miloš Sádlo, prepared another version of the Concerto. This time the editing was light. The new edition was published in two versions: In an original piano-score form (with appropriate cuts that correspond to the orchestrated version), and an orchestrated version by Burghauser, who took the liberty of cutting the extensive opening and final movements.
Today, one can get a taste of all three versions, since there are two Supraphon recording available (Original and Burghauser), as well as Steven Isserlis' frequent touring with the Raphael version.
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