Each of the works on this disc is associated with a notable cellist who made a career in Russia: the ‘Rococo Variations’ with the German player Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (1843–90), the ‘Andante cantabile’ with Anatoly Brandukov (1859–1930), the ‘Chant du Ménestrel’ with the Polish player Alexander Wierzbilowicz (1849–1911) and the Shostakovich Concerto with Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007) – whose genius as an interpreter knits the whole program together. The main work on this recording is Shostakovich’s Second Concerto – a work on which Rostropovich and the composer collaborated. While the cellist’s recording with Herbert von Karajan is vastly popular, this CD includes Rostropovich’s preferred recording of the work, taped in 1960 with Gennadi Rozhdestvensky. For this alone, this CD is well worth the purchase. Tully Potter provides the insightful liner notes.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 126
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Andante cantabile, Op. posth.
Berliner Philharmoniker
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
Chant du Ménestrel, Op. 71
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa
Mstislav Rostropovich, cello
Recording Producers: Thomas Mowrey (Shostakovich, Glazunov); Karl-Heinz Schneider (Rococo Variations); Cord Garben (Andante cantabile)
Balance Engineers: Hans-Peter Schweigmann, Gernot Westhaeuser (Shostakovich, Glazunov); Harald Baudis (Rococo Variations); Wolfgang Mitlehner, Volker Martin, Rainer Hoepfner (Andante cantabile)
Recording Locations: Brent Town Hall, Wembley, London, UK, September 1960 (Rococo Variations); Symphony Hall, Boston, USA, August 1975 (Shostakovich, Glazunov); Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany, June 1978 (Andante cantabile)
‘Rostropovich plays with beautifully controlled feeling … Ozawa provides a most sympathetic and well-disciplined accompaniment and draws finely expressive playing from all departments of the orchestra. … Glazunov’s ‘Chant du Ménestrel’ […] will give unalloyed pleasure. The recording is excellently balanced, both in terms of the overall perspective as well as the relationship between the various elements of the orchestra … most is made of the spacious and warm acoustic. This, then, is a most truthful recording of a most distinguished performance’ (Shostakovich, Glazunov) Gramophone
‘charismatic accompaniments by the splendid Leningrad Philharmonic under Gennadi Rozhdestvensky. Rostropovich is nothing if not a larger-than-life cellist … The sound is excellent’ Gramophone