Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36534 in Music
• Released on: 2009-01-13
• Number of discs: 28
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: 1.74 pounds

Album Description
This collection brings together all the recordings with cello that he made for EMI Classics, including both versions of the Brahms Double Concerto made with Oistrakh & Szell in 1969 and Perlman & Haitink in 1979, the Dvorˇák Concerto with Boult in 1957 and Giulini in 1977, Saint-Saëns Concerto No.1 with Sargent in 1956 and Giulini in 1977, the Bach Cello Suites both on CD and DVD, the 13 CDs of recordings which Rostropovich brought to EMI entitled The Russian Years, and a special documentary DVD.

About the Artist
Mstislav Rostropovich was born on March 27, 1927, and died from cancer a month after his 80th birthday. He was without a shadow of a doubt the leading cellist of the 20th century, not to mention an excellent conductor and piano accompanist to his wife, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. But what set him even further apart was his deep commitment to humanity, his dedication to the people of his native Russia, and his courageous stand against the Soviet empire (his support of dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn and others led him to have his citizenship revoked by the Communist regime).

The remarkable enthusiasm and virtuosity with which "Slava" played inspired numerous composers to write for him. He reserved his highest praise for composers Sergei Prokofiev, who died on the same day as Stalin Mar 5, 1953), Dmitri Shostakovich (died Aug 9, 1975), and Benjamin Britten (died Dec 4, 1976). Both Rostropovich and Shostakovich had lost their fathers while teenagers, so when Shostakovich became his teacher he was more of a surrogate father, and you may imagine his anguish at not being able to return to Moscow for the funeral (having been stripped of his citizenship); it was thus at Britten's funeral service that he could give vent to his sadness at the loss of both great friends.

Customer Reviews

Rostropovich in double time
Here are 28 discs, all recorded for EMI. 13 discs were initially released in a package called The Russian Years. The complete contents of that package may be seen on line at Amazon.com. The remaining discs were recorded in the West, most of which are still available on an individual basis.
Purchasers of this huge set will receive TWO performances of major selections such as:
Schumann concerto with Bernstein and Rozhdestvensky
Brahms double concerto with Oistrakh and Szell then with Perlman and Haitink
Dvorak concerto with Giulini and Boult
Saint-Saens concerto with Sargent and Giulini
Stauss Don Quixote with Karajan and Kondrashin
Prokofiev Symphony-concerto with Rozhdestvensky and Sargent
Myaskovsky concerto with Sargent and Svetlanov.
There are also 2 discs of the Bach suites and then two DVD discs of the same performance with some narration (4 discs in all).
However, half the discs are not duplicative and they also contain great performances. So, you have to decide how much duplication you can tolerate in relation to other performances you may already own of the major works. But, based on the price (less than $3 per disc), the high quality of the EMI recordings, and the marvelous playing of Rostropovich, this collection does rate 5 stars.

A Treasure Trove of Recordings
I have purchased symphonic cycles before but never a set with so many CDs. My collection contained other recordings - the Shostakovich cello concerti and the Prokofiev cello works - but most of the EMI recordings in this set are new to me. This is an impressive tribute to Mstislav Rostropovich but what convinced me to buy it are the 13 CDs that were originally issued as "The Russian Years." These recordings just managed to survive after Slava went into exile (because his name was removed from the tape reels) and they contain some priceless performances. For example, we can hear the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's Cello Symphony conducted by the composer with the Moscow Philharmonic and the world premiere of Shostakovich's Second Cello Concerto. Among other gems is the world premiere of Prokofiev's Cello Sonata with Sviatoslav Richter, the world premiere of Boris Chiakovsky's Cello Concerto and a disc where Slava performs sonatas by Shostakovich, Kabalevsky and Karen Khachaturian with the composers playing the piano. And this is just a sampling of the treasures recorded during Slava's years in Russia.

There are some duplicated performances. Just to mention three: the Dvorak Concerto conducted by Sir Adrian Boult and Carlo Maria Guilini, the Brahms Double Concerto conducted by George Szell (with David Oistrahk) and Bernard Haitink (with Itzhak Perlman) and two of Richard Strauss' Don Quixote with Herbert von Karajan and Kyrill Kondrashin. I found the two different readings of the Dvorak interesting as Guilini adopts a broader tempo than Boult producing an interesting contrast of interpretation.

Aside from familiar works, like the Dvorak Concerto, there is music that is not so familiar such as the Glazunov Concerto balata, Respighi's Adagio con variazioni, Gubaidulina's Canticle of the Sun and Schnittke's Concerto for Three. One of the most interesting and delightful discs consists of short pieces for cello that Rostropovich played as encores and many times when visiting small villages where a cello had never been seen much less actually played. The selections include a transcription of Clair de lune, Stravinsky's Mavra and Le Baiser de la fee and de Falla's Ritual Fire Dance. These short works make interesting listening and attest to the eloquence Rostropovich brought to these short-and sweet pieces.

The actual make up of this set is 25 music CDs, two DVDs of Slava playing the Bach Cello Suites and a CD with a conversation with Mstislav Rostropovich where he recounts his life. The recordings have been beautifully re-mastered. The cost of this set (currently less than 3 dollars per disc) is certainly a bargain for so many extraordinary performances and world premieres. It is a pleasure to get lost playing these discs.

The (nearly) complete Rostropovich
Some duplicates, but the comparisons are extremely interesting. Plus this collection provides easy access to many wonderful recordings of works by less than household name composers that one would not purchase separately but which add significantly to the cello repertoire.