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Rostropovich at 75 - A Look Back

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 09/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To celebrate the 75th year of the birth of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the various labels he recorded with over his illustrious career have issued several excellent collections. EMI outdid themselves by issuing, among other sets, the breathtaking 13-CD box set "The Russian Years," featuring rare recordings and numerous premieres made by Rostropovich during his tenure behind the Iron Curtain. That set's a hard one to match, but the two-disc "Master Cellist: Legendary Recordings 1956-78" comes close. What it lacks in quantity, "Master Cellist" makes up for in quality. It contains arguably the single best recording ever made of the Dvorak Cello Concerto (with von Karajan), an excellent Schumann Concerto, and stunning shorter works for cello and orchestra by Tchaikovsky and Glazunov. These are legendary accounts for sure, but no big deal to most serious collectors because they are, or have been, previously available on CD. But what made me trade in my DG Originals disc of the Dvorak Concerto, and get "Master Cellist" was disc two of this set. It features four glorious works for cello and piano, never before released on CD, with Slava's long-time collaborator, pianist Alexander Dedyukhin. They are all, along with the Rach Sonata, quite simply sublime. Rostropovich will sadly not live another 75 years, but his legacy will live on for at least that long thanks to magical recordings like these."

An imperfect compilation, but never mind

Robert Buchanan | Wisconsin | 03/10/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Deutsche Grammophon issued this compilation in celebration of Rostropovich's 75th birthday in 2002; in the wake of the great Russian's recent death, this two-disc retrospective has been granted a slightly renewed relevance. What more can be written of Rostropovich's preponderance that hasn't been exhaustively posited and discussed? His playing was characterized by an emotive fervor and meticulous technical excellence that are very nearly unsurpassed. His legacy as both a musician and an anti-Communist proponent have been assured.



The first of the two discs is dedicated to many notable orchestral works featuring a prominent cello soloist, and over half of its' length is dominated by Dvorák's cello concerto, a piece that Rostropovich famously recorded more often than any other and which was, in turn, mostly popularized by him. Its' execution in this most famous of these numerous recordings is flawless, as the fastidious cellist is here paired with fellow perfectionist Karajan at the height of his powers. But it could be said that Rostropovich and Karajan have made this piece seem greater than it actually is; for all the hype, the Cello Concerto is not unlike some of the lesser Mahler symphonies: meandering, nearly aimless music punctuated by passages of extraordinary power and beauty.



While Schumann's own Cello Concerto is hardly a masterwork, this extremely focused, busy composition is admirable for being one of too few works in which cello is closely paired with orchestra during the entirety of its' duration. By contrast, Tchaikovsky's "Andante cantabile" (originally a movement of his first string quartet) features a lush cello part and a sparse string orchestral accompaniment. This particular recording is notable as a showcase for Rostropovich's diverse talents, as he conducts the BPO while performing the solo part. The first disc ends with Glazunov's heart-rending, almost incomparably beautiful "Chant du ménéstral," a magnificent relative obscurity that deserves inclusion in this compilation, if only to receive more attention.



The second disc focuses on some of Rostropovich's recordings of chamber music - specifically, his work with pianist Alexander Dedyukhin. It opens with Rachmaninov's exhaustive Sonata for Piano and Cello, an impressive piece characteristic of the late romantic's tendency to imbue his works with a wide emotional range and no small number of technical challenges for a performer. Chopin's "Introduction and Polonaise brillante" for Cello and Piano was initially a less generous work in regard to its' cello part, which was modified by Rostropovich for this recording to provide it with a greater prominence. As a work characteristic of Chopin, the cello almost seems incongruous.



The last three recordings on the disc are transcriptions of popular compositions for piano and cello: Rachmaninov's "Vocalise" (initially scribed as a warmup exercise for a vocalist); Schubert's "Impromptu" (the cantabile of which is surely more challenging for a pianist as the little Austrian originally intended); the "Träumerei" movement of Schumann's "Kinderszenen" (itself an adaptation of the popular transcription for violin). In all three of these recordings, Rostropovich's performances are superlative in a way that makes these works seem as though they were originally written for the cello. "Träumerei" is especially lovely; the deeper tone of the instrument lends a weight to this transcription that a violin or viola just can't afford. In all of the tracks on this disc, Dedyukhin's light, deft accompaniment is equally assured and subtle. Dedyukhin knew to defer to his partner's eminence, but his own familiarity with and mastery of these works is nothing short of impressive.



While this album has been capably remastered and most of the second disc's content (excepting the Rachmaninov sonata) wasn't available on CD before this release, it feels both incomplete and inadequate as a compilation. In fact, it's hard to imagine any release less than a large (and probably expensive) boxed set that could encompass the majority of Rostropovich's best work as either a cellist or a conductor during any period. Even as it is, the selections on this album are questionable. Many of the excellent commissioned works written specifically for Rostropovich by his contemporaries (Lutoslawski, Khachaturian, Britten, Shostakovich, Schnittke, Penderecki, etc.) would have been better choices for inclusion on this album than the lesser concert recordings or transcriptions. DG makes the best of what it has on hand and that's all well and good, but Rostropovich would have been better honored with a reissued series of his recordings. Any compilation of such a long and accomplished career is likely to be insufficient."

Rostropovich stands out like a dazzling star

Michael T. Kelly | 05/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As difficult a period as the 20th century was ... and all the more so in the soviet union -- Rostropovich stands out like a dazzling star. He represented some the finest levels of musical art that man can achieve -- a triumph of the human spirit.



In the 21st century in the western world, we are witness to the decline of the art form known as "classical music"... with nothing comparable or better on the horizon to replace it. As the 6 billion people of the earth, soon to be 9 billion, struggle for light and space ... there are ominous reverberations in the arts.



Thank God the few of us left who love this music have recordings of men like Rostopovitch ... always with the hope that the fire will be passed on to new generations of performers and composers who will catch the spirit and breath new life into the world.

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