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In my obituary of Mstislav Rostropovich in April 2007, I ended by noting how appropriate it would be if EMI would reissue the recordings made by the great cellist in what is known as 'The Russian Years', including as they did world premieres of Shostakovich and Prokofiev.
It may have been a while coming, but EMI has handsomely trumped this by issuing Slava's entire recordings for the company, many of them freshly remastered. Over the course of a staggering 26 CDs and 2 DVDs, it is therefore possible to chart the recording career of the greatest cellist of our age.
Not all Rostropovich's recordings were made for EMI of course, there exist more timeless recordings already issued by Warner Classics and Deutsche Grammophon, the former also noting his finest achievement as a conductor, a highly regarded Shostakovich cycle.
Rostropovich does not conduct here, but we hear him in an unrivalled range of instrumental scales, from the intimacy of the Sarabande from Bach's 1st Cello Suite through to the outright exuberance of concertos from Dvorak (two recordings) and Richard Strauss's Don Quixote, an especially luscious reading with Herbert von Karajan.
While the 'Russian' recordings are deservedly the headline grabbers, and more of which later, their modern counterparts should not be glossed over. Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto is simply staggering in its virtuosity and depth of musical feeling, as is its companion piece, the concerto Tout Le Montain by Henri Dutilleux. Both are Rostropovich commissions.
The Haydn concertos have a wonderful grace that belies some considerable technical challenges overcome in the faster movements, while two recordings of Schumann's Cello Concerto brim with lyrical warmth, despite the version with Leonard Bernstein acquiring considerable length.
There are relative rarities too, in the Richard Strauss Cello Sonata, some 'lollipops' of Popper, Scriabin and Debussy, a wonderful interpretation of the Miaskovsky Cello Concerto and more new music from Sofia Gubaidulina and Alfred Schnittke, reminders both of Rostropovich's ongoing influence towards the close of the century.
Yet it is the Russian performances that elevate this box set to essential purchasing and listening, not just for cellists but for fans of 20th century music. World premieres abound, from a searing account of Prokofiev's Cello Sonata with Sviatoslav Richter to an especially probing Shostakovich Second Cello Concerto, both given in the presence of the composers. Benjamin Britten, meanwhile, conducts his own Cello Symphony in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. Whilst not the easiest of works to follow this is a truly historical performance of great intensity.
And there's more, as the collection continues dedications emerge from Russian composers far and wide. Boris Tchaikovsky gets a whole disc, with a Suite and a sizeable Concerto, while there are works from Tischenko and Weinberg. Shostakovich accompanies Rostropovich in the Cello Sonata, while yet more Russian contemporary composers are championed through the cellist, works from Ustvolskaya and Schnittke making deeper impressions.
To wrap up, the two DVDs, each with a spoken commentary, offer a second Bach suite cycle and show visually the level of intensity Rostropovich invested in his performances. They complete a handsome set that does full justice to one of the last century's greatest musicians, and the music he inspired from some of the century's greatest composers. Don't miss it.
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