NEW
CD Cello 2026
NEW -- CD Cello 2026
The 4CD box set of the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition will be available as from Saturday 6 June 2026.
The 2026 Cello Session provided an opportunity to celebrate three major anniversaries: the 75th anniversary of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Queen Elisabeth, the Competition’s founder, and the 150th anniversary of one of her closest friends, the great cellist and humanist Pablo Casals.
This edition was distinguished by the remarkable diversity of its repertoire, often extending into contemporary music, a feature championed both by the Artistic Committee and by the laureates themselves through their programme choices.
The concertos performed by the first four prize-winners are brought together in this box set. As tradition dictates, it opens with First Prize winner Ettore Pagano in Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto, followed by Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto performed by Second Prize winner Tae-Yeon Kim. Next come Barber’s Cello Concerto performed by Third Prize winner Leland Ko and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto performed by Fourth Prize winner Álvaro Lozano Cames, all accompanied by the Belgian National Orchestra under the baton of Antony Hermus.
A full disc of chamber music extends the programme. It begins with Josef Suk’s Ballade, performed by Clara Dietlin during the First Round, and concludes with Kaija Saariaho’s Lullaby, performed by Andrew Ilhoon Byun and recorded here for the first time. Highlights also include Schnittke’s Cello Sonata No. 1 performed by Fifth Prize winner Maria Zaitseva, Harold Noben’s compulsory work Caffeine performed by Krzysztof Michalski, and Dmitri Kabalevsky’s impressive Sonata performed by Leland Ko.
The programme then returns to the orchestral repertoire, this time with the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia and conductor Vahan Mardirossian in the concertos by Anton Kraft and Leopold Hofmann heard during the semi-finals at Flagey, once again performed by Ettore Pagano and Tae-Yeon Kim. A brief moment of repose comes with Dvořák’s Klid, performed by Ivan Sendetsky, before the set concludes with Fang Man’s Four Odes to the Tidings of Flowers, the compulsory work of the Final Round, in the performance by Fifth Prize winner Yo Kitamura.
This box set, documenting the third Queen Elisabeth Competition session dedicated to the cello, brings together the twelve laureates who provided audiences with exceptional musical moments. Beyond the prize list itself, however, it also reflects the richness of an edition marked by the broadening of repertoire, the curiosity of its performers, and the extraordinary diversity of musical personalities gathered in Brussels. From major concerto repertoire to chamber music and contemporary creation, it offers a vivid portrait of the cello today and extends the artistic and human adventure experienced throughout these weeks of competition.
The annual CD box set containing the best moments of the Queen Elisabeth Competition will contain 4 CDs.
The box set will be shipped by post as soon as 8 June 2026.
PROGRAMME
CD1
1-3 Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Sinfonia Concertante in E minor, op. 125 – Ettore PAGANO
[Andante | Allegro giusto | Finale: Andante con moto]
4-7 Witold LUTOSŁAWSKI (1913-1994) Concerto – Tae-Yeon KIM
[Introduction | 4 Episodes | Cantilena | Finale]
CD2
1-4 Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Concerto n. 1 in E flat major, op. 107 – Álvaro LOZANO CAMES
[Allegretto | Moderato | Cadenza | Allegro con moto]
5-7 Samuel BARBER (1910-1981) Concerto in A minor, op. 22 – Leland KO
[Allegro moderato | Andante sostenuto | Molto allegro e appassionato]
CD3
1 Josef SUK (1874-1935) Ballade, op. 3 – Clara DIETLIN
2-4 Alfred SCHNITTKE (1934-1998) Sonata n. 1, op. 129 – Maria ZAITSEVA
[Largo | Presto | Largo]
5 Harold NOBEN (°1978) Caffeine – Krzysztof MICHALSKI
6-8 Dmitry KABALEWSKY (1904-1987) Sonata in B flat major, op. 71 – Leland KO
[Andante molto sostenuto | Allegretto con moto | Allegro molto]
9 Krzysztof PENDERECKI (1933-2020) Capriccio per Siegfried Palm – Lionel MARTIN
10-11 György LIGETI (1923-2006) Sonata for Solo Cello – Dilshod NARZILLAEV
[Dialogo | Capriccio]
12 Kaija SAARIAHO (1952-2023) Lullaby – Andrew Ilhoon BYUN
CD4
1-3 Anton KRAFT (1749-1820) Concerto in C major, op. 4 – Ettore PAGANO
[Allegro aperto | Romance | Rondo alla Cosacca]
4-6 Leopold HOFMANN (1738-1793) Concerto in D major, Badley D3 – Tae-Yeon KIM
[Allegro moderato | Adagio un poco Andante | Allegro molto] - Cadenza: Tim Hugh
7 Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904) Klid (Silent Woods), op. 68 n. 5, B. 173 – Ivan SENDETSKY
8-11 FANG Man (°1977) Four Odes to the Tidings of Flowers – Yo KITAMURA
[In Winter Snow, An Ode to Plum | In Spring Valleys, An Ode to Orchid |
In Summer Winds, An Ode to Bamboo | In Autumn Frost, An Ode to Chrysanthemum]
Belgian National Orchestra – Antony Hermus, conductor (CD1, CD2, CD4: 8-11)
Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie – Vahan Mardirossian, conductor (CD4: 1-6)
Piano: Antoine de Grolée (CD3: 1), Maria Zaitseva Sr (CD3: 2-4), Sarah Zajtmann (CD3: 5), Adria Ye (CD3: 6-8), Thomas Hoppe (CD4: 7)
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