Mstislav Rostropovich - Dvorak: Cellokonzert H-Moll (In B Minor) Tschaikowsky: Rokoko-Variationen OP 55 - Japan 2 SACD Hybrid Limited Edition

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Mstislav Rostropovich

Description:

Three post-Romantic concerto albums recorded by Rostropovich for DG are collected on two discs! Variations on a Rococo Theme" includes two recordings, one with Karajan and the other with Rozhestvensky. The most recent reissue of the representative master recordings of each piece from the analog master tapes in their home countries for this release. New preface commentary is included. Some of the recordings have been released on SA-CD for the first time in the world! Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme" and Schumann's "Cello Concerto" with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rozhestvensky were session recorded at Wembley Town Hall in London on September 12 and 13, 1960, while the orchestra was on tour in England. It was session-recorded at Wembley Town Hall in London on September 12 and 13, 1960. The orchestra was led by maestro Evgeny Mravinsky, who made stereo recordings of three of Tchaikovsky's most famous symphonies (No. 4 in London and Nos. 5 & 6 in Vienna), with the others conducted by Rozhestvensky (recordings from September 14 to 17 was previously released as a SACD hybrid. (The September 14-17 recordings were previously released as SACD hybrids, item numbers PROC2377-9). The Schumann and Tchaikovsky recordings were released worldwide in September 1961 to critical acclaim. The November 1961 issue of High Fidelity magazine said of Schumann, "The cellist's technique is breathtaking, but he is not a showy performer. His leisurely and highly interior interpretation of this difficult piece reminds me in many ways of Furtwängler," and of Tchaikovsky, "He brings charm, natural humor, and pure joy to his technical writing. (Like Schumann, the orchestral playing is of a rare high order, with the exquisite expression of the woodwinds adding wit and brilliance. It was during this period of favorable relations between West Germany and the Soviet Union that the recording of the Berlin Philharmonic with Herbert von Karajan, the "King of the Musical World" on the other side of the Berlin Wall, took place in September 1968.There are six session recordings of Dvořák's Cello Concerto by different conductors (Heikin, Thalich, Boult, Karajan, Giulini, and Seiji Ozawa), and numerous live recordings have been reissued, but the interpretation clearly changed after the Václav Thalich recording of June 18, 1952. At the beginning of the development of the first movement, Thalich says, "I told him to slow down not only the 'molto sostenuto' in bar 224, but also in bar 240. He said that the climax of this section would be much more effective if I slowed down the tempo and then slowly accelerated and intensified the notes." ("Biography of Rostropovich," by Elizabeth Wilson, translated by Hiroe Kimura). Rostropovich was immediately convinced of the correctness of this suggestion and asked Thalich to teach him the entire piece. In fact, this interpretation is not found in the live recording made only two weeks earlier on June 4 under Ancell. And it is this Karajan recording that most carefully performs this slow acceleration. In the Tchaikovsky, the total playing time is almost the same as in the Rozhestvensky disc, but the contrast in slow acceleration and expressiveness of each variation is interesting. This LP was highly acclaimed worldwide, winning the 1969 Record Academy Award (Japan), the German Record Award, and the French Disc Award. (1/2)