Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Dominic Wheeler - Conductor
Michael Petrov - Cello
Shostakovich’s two cello concertos were both written for the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and reflect his outsize personality and prodigious virtuosity. The First, in E flat major, was premiered in Leningrad in October 1959, and was repeated in Philadelphia and London before the end of that year. The orchestra is an unusual one, consisting of strings, woodwind, timpani, celesta and a solitary horn. The horn takes on a solo role second only to that of the cello. In the first movement, indeed, while the cello is in action from the start, it first plays at the traditional place for a soloist’s entry in a concerto, after the statement of both main themes. The horn then plays an important part in the ensuing development section, largely with brief interjections of the challenging opening phrase of the first subject, and takes over the second theme in the recapitulation.
Dominic Wheeler was an organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge, Opera Conducting Scholar at the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music, and a student at the Liszt Akademie, Budapest. He now enjoys a varied career, conducting opera, dance and symphonic repertoire all over the world.
Born in Bulgaria in 1990, Michael Petrov studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Thomas Carroll, and since 2009 at the Guildhall School with Louise Hopkins. In 2013 he was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT), and he was recently selected as an ECHO Rising Star for the 2014/15 season.
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Violins
Katherine Meyers
Ricky Gore
Hikaru Matsukawa
Alexandra Lomeiko
Sabina Kolodziej
Lucia Veintimilla Macian
Yi-Ning Liao
Esther Kim
Alan Estruga Castello
Phoebe Snelling
Sophie Poteratchi
William Newell
Ionel Manciu
Monika Koscielna Magnus
Lars Steinum
Agnieszka Gesler
Venetia Jollands
Michelle Laimeche Marika Acs
Elena Abad Martinez
Karina Deyanova
Katarzyna Ziminska
Sophie Belinfante
Song-Ah Choi
Julia Pareja-Cubero
Viola
Opal Ipek Besli
Fraser Keddie
Steliana Nedeva
Christopher Deakins
Duncan Anderson
Luba Tunnicliffe
Valerie Albrecht
May Dolan
Francesca Gilbert
Cello
Arthur Boutillier Gamaliel
Rendle Traynor
Romana Kaiser
Paulina Mikolajczyk
Min Jin Sung
Daniel Benn
Chris Brown
Andrew Power
Yoanna Prodanova
Madilyn Cutter
Double bass
Iurii Gavryliuk
Philip Donnelly
Giacomo Banella
Asgeir Faben
Joseph Straker
Jess Ryan
Flute
Henry Roberts
Mark Taylor
Piccolo
Mark Taylor
Oboe
Grace Warren
Alex Tostdevine
English horn
Alex Tostdevine
Clarinet
Oliver Pashley
Rebekah Carpio
Bass clarinet
Ausias Garrigos Morant
Bassoon
Liz O’Brien
Gareth Humphreys
Double bassoon
Gareth Humphreys
Horn
Jonathan Quaintrell-Evans
Daniel de Souza
Margrethe Lysholm
Jerome Wilson-Chalkley
Trumpet
James Davison
Katlin Wild
Tenor trombone
Kris Garfitt
Timpani
George English
Percussion
David Merseguer
Merlin Jones
Harp
Elin Samuel
Gabriella Jones
Piano and celeste
Antonio Oyarzabal
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Dominic Wheeler - Conductor
Michael Petrov - Cello
Shostakovich’s two cello concertos were both written for the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and reflect his outsize personality and prodigious virtuosity. The First, in E flat major, was premiered in Leningrad in October 1959, and was repeated in Philadelphia and London before the end of that year. The orchestra is an unusual one, consisting of strings, woodwind, timpani, celesta and a solitary horn. The horn takes on a solo role second only to that of the cello. In the first movement, indeed, while the cello is in action from the start, it first plays at the traditional place for a soloist’s entry in a concerto, after the statement of both main themes. The horn then plays an important part in the ensuing development section, largely with brief interjections of the challenging opening phrase of the first subject, and takes over the second theme in the recapitulation.
Dominic Wheeler was an organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge, Opera Conducting Scholar at the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music, and a student at the Liszt Akademie, Budapest. He now enjoys a varied career, conducting opera, dance and symphonic repertoire all over the world.
Born in Bulgaria in 1990, Michael Petrov studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Thomas Carroll, and since 2009 at the Guildhall School with Louise Hopkins. In 2013 he was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT), and he was recently selected as an ECHO Rising Star for the 2014/15 season.
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Violins
Katherine Meyers
Ricky Gore
Hikaru Matsukawa
Alexandra Lomeiko
Sabina Kolodziej
Lucia Veintimilla Macian
Yi-Ning Liao
Esther Kim
Alan Estruga Castello
Phoebe Snelling
Sophie Poteratchi
William Newell
Ionel Manciu
Monika Koscielna Magnus
Lars Steinum
Agnieszka Gesler
Venetia Jollands
Michelle Laimeche Marika Acs
Elena Abad Martinez
Karina Deyanova
Katarzyna Ziminska
Sophie Belinfante
Song-Ah Choi
Julia Pareja-Cubero
Viola
Opal Ipek Besli
Fraser Keddie
Steliana Nedeva
Christopher Deakins
Duncan Anderson
Luba Tunnicliffe
Valerie Albrecht
May Dolan
Francesca Gilbert
Cello
Arthur Boutillier Gamaliel
Rendle Traynor
Romana Kaiser
Paulina Mikolajczyk
Min Jin Sung
Daniel Benn
Chris Brown
Andrew Power
Yoanna Prodanova
Madilyn Cutter
Double bass
Iurii Gavryliuk
Philip Donnelly
Giacomo Banella
Asgeir Faben
Joseph Straker
Jess Ryan
Flute
Henry Roberts
Mark Taylor
Piccolo
Mark Taylor
Oboe
Grace Warren
Alex Tostdevine
English horn
Alex Tostdevine
Clarinet
Oliver Pashley
Rebekah Carpio
Bass clarinet
Ausias Garrigos Morant
Bassoon
Liz O’Brien
Gareth Humphreys
Double bassoon
Gareth Humphreys
Horn
Jonathan Quaintrell-Evans
Daniel de Souza
Margrethe Lysholm
Jerome Wilson-Chalkley
Trumpet
James Davison
Katlin Wild
Tenor trombone
Kris Garfitt
Timpani
George English
Percussion
David Merseguer
Merlin Jones
Harp
Elin Samuel
Gabriella Jones
Piano and celeste
Antonio Oyarzabal
