Cello Concerto No. 1

Commissioned by the Orchestre de Paris, and first performed by them in 1999 with soloist Anssi Karttunen, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
The work is cast in a 25-minute span punctuated by an improvised cadenza. Performers not wishing to improvise may substitute Boria from Lindberg’s solo cello suite Partia, which is included in the publication. Diapason commented, “The writing is homogeneous, virtuosic, energetic, with the cello up near the bridge almost without interruption in a highly taut style which travels at a quickstep through all the possibilities of the instrument.” Those possibilities include scordatura (for both soloist and orchestral cellos) and the so-called ‘seagull’ glissando.