Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Cello Concerto No. 1 in E flat Major Op. 107 (1959) [28:45]
Cello Concerto No. 2 in G minor Op. 126 (1966) [36:10]
Truls Mørk (cello)
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko
rec. live 30-31 January, 1 February 2013, Oslo Concerthall, Norway
ONDINE ODE12182 [64:59]
This live recording is the Oslo Philharmonic’s first release under its new
artistic director Vasily Petrenko. A Shostakovich specialist, Petrenko has
already recorded the complete symphonies with his Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra for Naxos. Petrenko is joined by Norwegian cellist
Truls Mørk who previously recorded the Shostakovich cello concertos in 1995
with the London Philharmonic conducted by Mariss Jansons on Virgin
Classics.
Shostakovich’s two cello concertos were written for his Soviet compatriot
Mstislav Rostropovich in the 1950s and 1960s. This was in the midst of the
severe artistic constraints imposed by the authorities in Soviet Russia. Both
concertos demand technical virtuosity and profound emotional expression from
the soloist. This is juxtaposed with orchestral writing that is both considerable
and challenging.
Overall this is a splendidly played release, high on tonal beauty but I ended
up wanting more potency and greater emotional edge particularly when it came
to that vital sense of foreboding and dark anguish. Petrenko obtains fine
responsive playing yet I sense that a care for precision has come at the expense
of generating sufficient passion. The engineers have produced vividly clear
and well balanced sound. It was pleasing to read the helpful and interesting
liner-notes.
The finest recording I have heard of Shostakovich’s pair of Cello Concertos
is played with wonderful command by Heinrich Schiff with the Symphonieorchester
des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by the composer’s son Maxim Shostakovich.
Impressively recorded for Philips at the Herkulessaal, Munich in 1984 this
version is strong on formidably powerful expression and deep intensity. The
emotional cross-currents of these absorbing accounts from Schiff are compelling
in every way. I should also mention the beautifully played 1993 accounts from
Mischa Maisky with the LSO under Michael Tilson Thomas. These were recorded
at Abbey Road, London on Deutsche Grammophon. Maisky plays marvellously but
lacks Schiff’s sheer depth of torment. Of real interest is the playing of
soloist Sol Gabetta with the Münchner Philharmoniker under Lorin Maazel. This
was recorded live in 2011 and 2008 at Philharmonie, Munich on Sony Classical
(No. 1) and RCA Red Seal (No. 2). Gabetta’s playing is not as consistently
fluid as that of Schiff, Rostropovich or Maisky and there’s a slight unevenness
in quality. That said his performances contain episodes of genuine radiance.
In the First Concerto I have come to admire the totally committed playing
of the première recording – that by Rostropovich, made in 1959 at the
Broadwood Hotel, Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene
Ormandy. I place this almost on a par with the Schiff. Rostropovich’s
wonderful-sounding digitally re-mastered on Sony Classical is far better
acoustically than the re-issued recording on Regis which I take to be the
same performance. In 1975 Rostropovich recorded the Second Concerto with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa at Symphony Hall, Boston. This
recording, available on Deutsche Grammophon Eloquence catches Rostropovich
strangely lacking in emotional intensity compared to Schiff.
Ondine’s disc sets out well played readings but there are some stunning
alternatives.
Michael Cookson
Masterwork Index: Shostakovich
cello concertos
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