Pieter receives rave reviews for his concert with The Budapest Festival Orchestra and Ivan Fischer in the Festival Hall in London.  Tim Ashley for The Guardian wrote:

'...Fischer and his soloist, Pieter Wispelwey, brought out the grandeur in this music, without losing sight of its poetry. The great melody that forms the second subject of the first movement was noble and nostalgic, while the finale blended arrogance with excitement. Wispelwey thinks in terms of span as well as detail, and the dividends were enormous. With Fischer at his most incisive, the orchestral sound was turbulent and beguiling - in short, a terrific interpretation that changed the way we think about the piece itself.'

Other news...

Pieter is currently trying out the beautiful Magg Stradivarius from 1698 for which dutch investors are being approached to provide the required funds.  You can hear him playing this stunning instrument in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam on 28th June and 16th July.

Other concert highlights include 2 Bach marathons on baroque cello in the UK (Aldeburgh festival- 24th June and Brinkburn Festival-6th July)

On the  recording side of things..Pieter's next release is Shostakovich 2nd cello concerto with Sinfonietta Crakovia which will be in the shops in September.

The Dvorak concerto CD with Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra continues to receive good reviews. Here are a few so far :

THIS IS CONCERT RECORDING AT ITS FINEST – WISPELWEY’S DVORAK IS ELECTRIFYING

Dutch firm Channel Classics has been stepping in where major internationals are being cautious - recording the central repertoire. Here we have an outstanding version of Dvorák's Cello Concerto, one to rival any version in the catalogue and imaginatively coupled with the much earlier Symphonic Variations. Pieter Wispeiwey crowns his previous releases in this electrifying live recording, brilliantly accompanied by the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer.
It includes applause at the end of each performance, suggesting there is far less editing here than in many other "live" recordings. That ties in with the high-voltage performances, well recorded in atmospheric and finely detailed sound, with the soloist well balanced in the concerto. Wispelwey's playing is marked by crisp attack and exceptionally clean articulation, and though he allows an easing for the transition into the great second-subject melody, as well as in the mysterious G sharp minor reference to it in the central development section (tr 1, 9'34"), he keeps romantic freedom well in check.  The Wispelwey first movement climax is triumphant with the orchestra weighty in tuttis,while the slow movement finds the soloist flexible, with magical shading of pianissimi leading to the hushed close. The finale is crisp and clean, with some wonderfully ripe-sounding horns suggesting Viennese influence. The hushed epilogue is refined, leading to a powerful final cadence....An outstanding disc.
Edward Greenfield (Gramophone October 2007)

It was also CD of the week in The Sunday Times Magazine.  '..Pieter Wispelwey, renowned for his work on baroque cello, plays a beautiful 'modern' Guadagnini of 1760 on this live recording from Budapest, and banishes Dvorak's doubts about the 'nasal sound of the high notes' and 'the droning..of the bass'.  Just listen to his exquisitely shaped reprise of the great horn melody from the orchestral introduction to the opening movement - cello playing of incomparable technical and musical accomplishment...'

Read more reviews and purchase all Pieter's CD's online from www.channelclassics.com

The next CD due for release is Shostakovich concerto no 2 at the end of 2007/beginning 2008 as well as a live recording of the Walton cello concerto from Sydney Opera House (also to appear early 2008)