Wagner's Overture to the opera Tannhauser
This excerpt is especially difficult when switching duple rhythmic figures to triplets as it tends to become rhythmically unstable.
Mendelssohn's Scherzo to Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream
These two excerpts are often on audition lists for professional cellists. It involves a well-controlled spiccato bow stroke and, of course, steady rhythm!
Richard Strauss' Tone Poem Also Sprach Zarathustra
This is a serious of excerpts spliced together one after the other from Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra. It is not asked on auditions all that much. You will hear why cellists are often relieved to NOT see it on an audition list.
John Landefeld, cello Dan Lewis, piano
Recital at C.C. Young "The Point" Dallas, TX - March 29, 2008
Below are some orchestral excerpts and collaborative performances
Akira Sato, cello John Landefeld, cello Yui Hosoi, cello Maki Fujiwara, piano
Recital at Le Classique in Fujisawa, Japan
June 24, 2018