Rostropovich - music for cello and orchestra
CD 1
Antonín DVORÁK (1841-1904)
Cello Concerto in B minor (1896) [39:20]
CD 2
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Cello Concerto in A minor (1850) [25:37]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Variations on a Rococo Theme (1876) [18:52]
Mstislav Rostropovich (cello)
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Vaclav Talich (Dvorák)
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (Schumann, Tchaikovsky)
rec. 1952 (Dvorák, 1961), 1961 (Schumann), 1957 (Tchaikovsky)
MAJOR CLASSICS M2CD022 [39:20 + 44:31]
Major Classics are bringing out an extensive series of reissues by major artists
across a very interesting range of repertoire. Most of these are in 2 CD sets
selling at super bargain price. Therefore they will seem a real bargain to
the discerning collector and that is surely the case in these three performances
by the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.
To tell the truth, with a combined time of little more than 80 minutes, these
discs are not exactly well filled, and the performances could nearly fit on
to one CD. However, the music-making is of such a standard that too much criticism
about timings would be inappropriate.
Aside from giving the year of each recording Major Classics have been coy
about exact provenance. If these are important reissues that seems a pity,
since the venues and dates would be all the more interesting. This is an error
of judgement on someone’s part, surely.
The earliest of the three performances gathered here is that of the Dvorák
Cello Concerto, with the Czech Philharmonic and Vaclav Talich, no less. Perhaps
the recording location was a studio in Prague, since if the performance is
live then the audience was astonishingly well behaved. The balancing of soloist
and orchestra leaves something to be desired. As so often the soloist sounds
larger than life compared with all the other musicians, towards eighty of
them, in this case. It’s true that Rostropovich was a larger than life musician,
but not exactly in that sense.
It goes without saying that with a master conductor like Talich at the helm,
this performance is thoroughly idiomatic. It is shaped with a sure sense of
line and a magnificent control of the ebb and flow of the drama. Add to that
the special intensity the soloist brings to the music and the results are
nothing if not compelling. The orchestral string sound, particularly that
of the violins, fares less well sonically than the woodwinds and brass. All
in all though, this is a compelling performance of the greatest cello concerto
ever written.
There is better sound to be heard in the pair of more recent recordings from
the Leningrad Philharmonic under Rozhdestvensky, dating from 1961 (Schumann)
and 1957 (Tchaikovsky). In fact the Schumann performance is a really strong
one. Rostropovich makes an eloquent case for this concerto to be regarded
as one of the composer’s major achievements. Again the balance favours the
cello at the expense of the orchestra, but for a fifty-year-old recording
in an ambient acoustic this has come up well thanks to the reissue process.
In Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations the sound is brightly lit and
the approach is very Russian, as the horn’s wide vibrato confirms within the
first minute. Rostropovich makes a wonderfully warm and full sound in his
solo line, and what we hear therefore gives much satisfaction. If the playing
styles of orchestras today are more ‘international’ than they were fifty plus
years ago, is that necessarily a good thing? There is artistry in abundance
on display here, and the performance is hugely enjoyable.
A few caveats apart, this Rostropovich reissue can be given an enthusiastic
welcome.
Terry Barfoot
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A few caveats about recording balances apart, this Rostropovich reissue can
be given an enthusiastic welcome.