Reviewing the world premiere, Andrew Clements of The Guardian highly praised the concerto, describing it as "strikingly fresh" and "a major addition to the concerto repertory."[3] Reviewing the United States premiere with Gerhardt and the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Susanna Mälkki, Keith Powers of The Classical Review described it as a "superbly tense work [that] stretched sonic boundaries not with atonal inventions but with harmonic and sub-harmonic experimentation. The piece avoided showy virtuosity while placing considerable musical demands on the soloist and the large orchestral forces required."[4]
Following the 2013 revision, Andrew Clements reviewed the work again to glowing praise, describing it as "arguably the most important concerto for that instrument to appear since Lutosławski's in 1970."[5] Arnold Whittall of Gramophone similarly described the concerto as "an outstanding achievement" and "spontaneously eloquent as well as powerfully dramatic." He added, "The orchestral writing is perfectly judged to actively engage with and complement the soloist, and the reflective, questing ending is one of the most memorable in the contemporary concerto repertory."[6] In 2019, The Guardian ranked the Cello Concerto the 11th greatest work of art music since the year 2000.[7]
