Search - Rostropovich :: Rostropovich: The Russian Years, 1950-1974

A true collector's item

Yvonne Caruthers | Arlington, VA USA | 04/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Perhaps the most staggering aspect of this collection of CD's is that many of them were recorded live, and you won't know it until you hear the applause at the end of a track. Rostropovich, or Slava as he's usually known, recorded many of these pieces as premieres. The tapes lay in archives for years, and he thought he'd never have access to them. When he was allowed back into Russia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was able to listen to the old tapes, choose which ones he thought were the best, and oversee the production of this set. It's staggering. Even if you only listen to the "easy" parts on these albums, like Don Quixote, the Shostakovich sonata (with the composer at the piano), the Prokofieff sonata (at its world premiere), the Rococo Variations, you'll get your money's worth. If you're more adventurous, and dip into all the contemporary Russian music, you'll hear these works as only the composer could imagine them to be played. Rostropovich at his best, the music at its best, a unique look at a world now nearly gone, a true joy to own!"

A Lot of Marvelous Cello

Snow Leopard | Urbana, IL | 11/26/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"13 discs, all Rostropovich. The performances are collected thematically ("Short Pieces", "19th & 20th Century Non-Russians", "Benjamin Britten", "Concertos" etc) rather than chronologically, and in general probably have something for everyone somewhere in all the music, whether it be the chance to hear Rostropovich in a single movement of Beethoven's Triple Concerto, or to hear for the first time the comparatively rare works of Tishchenko and Ustvolskaya being performed. The fact that the pieces are a collection of what was available (what survived as master tapes in Moscow after Rostropovich's departure from the Soviet Union) is fortunate and unfortunate at the same time--one wishes the collection was more completist, in spite of being 13 discs long.If you've never heard Rostropovich, then this is probably an expensive way to start, but still might be well worth it. Rostropovich is an exciting performer who usually can smoothe over his lapses in taste with sheer exuberance. His playing, which is both full of virtuosity and intimacy at the same time, has a way of persuading you with its own aesthetic, even if, upon reflection later, you realize that in some important way Rostropovich has "betrayed" the original sense of the music. I'm resorting to tenuous metaphors. I should say that Rostropovich is not at all a kind of Glen Gould on cello; the cellist's eccentricities don't have Gould's audaciousness at all. Rather, the same kinds of quirks that have earned him demerits (or acclaim) as a conductor are present (more subtly) in his cello playing as well.Personally, I bought this collection for the obscure Russian composers it showcases, and was not disappointed. Throughout, the performances are uniformly sharp, natty, stylish...I keep wanting to use the word exuberant again, though not a naive exuberance. The liner notes, while extensive, are also almost all entirely anecdotal, being reflections by Rostropovich himself on some of the personal aspects of each given performance.Lots of marvelous cello here, with a one star demerit owing to the piecemeal nature of the collection."

Chopin, Beethoven, Shostakovich --exquisite

GiveMy CDsBack | Australia | 09/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There was much in this collection which did not particularly appeal to my musical tastes.



BUT



CD 8 has the greatest performance in history of Beethovens Triple Concerto (Rostropovich, Oistrakh, Richter, Moscow Philharmonic, recorded in Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire).



CD 12 -- pieces with pianist Alexander Dedyukin -- has the most beautiful version ever of Chopin's Cello Sonata (op.65). This piece makes Jacqueline Du Pre's performances fade into utter insignificance.



I lent my Beethoven cd to someone who shall remain nameless, may they burn in hell. It didnt come back.



An ex girlfriend has the Chopin cd. She wont admit it though.



These two CDs are the only ones from the collection which EMI refused to release individually. Thank you very much EMI...



Other cds have some smaller pieces which were just exquisite also -- David Popper's Dance of the Elves (also with Dedyukin on piano), and Shostakovich's cello sonata op 40 (with Shostakovich

himself on the piano). Just amazing.



John"