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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 & Cello Sonata
Here are two masterpieces for cello by Shostakovich, written 25 years apart. The insolent Sonata Op.40 of 1934, contemporary with 'Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District': the opera soon to plunge its composer into disgrace with Stalin, was answered in 1959 by the bitter self-questioning of an artist who seemed to have sunk into depression. This Cello Concerto ends with a wicked caricature of true joy, adding the final touch to the extreme polymorphism of a traumatised humourist who had long since learned not to laugh . . . A passionate devotee of chamber music and member of the ensemble Les Violoncelles Français, Emmanuelle Bertrand has appeared in duo repertoire with the pianist Pascal Amoyel since 1999. Her harmonia mundi recordings as a soloist or in tandem with Amoyel have all received the most prestigious critical accolades in France and abroad, including the Cannes Classical Award, Diapason d’Or of the Year, 10 de Répertoire-Classica, Choc de Classica, and ffff de Télérama. In 2014 she will give the first performance of Thierry Escaïch’s Cello Concerto. “[Bertrand] wears the piece lightly, dancing rather than carving through it, with a silvery line that can be ghostly or piercing but never gruff…her bright, neat staccato is effective even if climaxes lack heft…The BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Pascal Rophe, however, really does dance on hot coals and give the requisite blast…[the Moderato in A minor] has a haunting poetry and one can hardly imagine it better played.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 *** “In the Concerto, almost all of the playing is of intense musicality and virtuosity, which this highly original work demands...I feel that Bertrand does overdo at times the 'expressive' nature of her interpretation, but this observation is brought about solely because the rest of her performance is so impressive.” International Record Review, May 2013 “Bertrand is nothing if not a gutsy player. The close-up recording captures her every breath and every rasp of bow on string. Pascal Rophe makes sure that the BBC NOW responds in kind...If she is as good live as she sounds here, and if she is as full of insight in the rest of her repertoire, I would certainly travel a distance to hear her.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2013 | 
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| |  | Sol Gabetta plays Shostakovich and Rachmaninov
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| |  | Shostakovich: Three Concertos
Together for the first time, three acclaimed concertos performed by the soloists who made them famous: dedicatees and performers David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovitch, and then Leonard Bernstein himself, in the Concerto Op.102. All were at the peaks of their careers. Bernstein plays as well as directs the second piano concerto, dedicated to Maxim, the composer's son, in a performance that helped further Dmitri's standing in the western world. The violin concerto is a live performance; all three enhanced by remastering in DSD technology and immortalised. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 & Violin Concerto No. 1
David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich perform concertos by Shostakovich with distinguished accompaniment given by the Leningrad Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras respectively. Both performances are benchmark recordings against which all newcomers are judged. Available at super budget price. “It would be impossible to over-praise Rostropovich's performance of the solo part, which combines phenomenal technique with the complete musical understanding one expects of a soloist who has had the advantage of working
with the composer. What is more, Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra accompany him magnificently.” Gramophone Magazine (Cello Concerto) “The towering instrumentalists for whom these works were written team up with great conductors in peerless interpretations. Oistrakh sears in the superior masterpiece.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 ***** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Cello Concertos Nos 1 and 2
Shostakovich wrote two cello concertos for his great friend Mstislav Rostropovich. Cello Concerto No. 1 was written in 1959, a difficult year for the composer. His second marriage was failing, and he was suffering from a debility in his right hand that hampered his ability to write, and to play the piano. His personal circumstances could not help but to colour this dark and uncompromising cello concerto. The angular motifs in the first movement grate against one another, and the slow movement touches depths of feeling unheard in Shostakovich’s works since the First Violin Concerto a decade earlier. Shostakovich’s inspiration for the concerto was Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra. He loved this work, and told Rostropovich that he had played the recording of it so many times that it eventually wore out completely and only emitted a kind of hiss when he put it on his gramophone player. Cello Concerto No. 2 was written seven years later, in 1966. It was premiered at the composer’s sixtieth birthday concert with Mstislav Rostropovich as soloist. Until the very last moment it was doubtful that Shostakovich himself would attend, as he had recently suffered a heart attack. In the end, he did make it to the concert, and both he and the new concerto were rapturously received. In the words of Rostropovich, this work is ‘less striking [than its predecessor]… but its profundity is second to none’. The works are here performed by the cellist Enrico Dindo, whom Rostropovich himself described as ‘a cellist of exceptional qualities, a complete artist and a formed musician, with an extraordinary sound which flows as a splendid Italian voice’. Dindo has performed with the BBC Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre national de France, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others, under conductors such as Valery Gergiev and Rostropovich. On this recording he is accompanied by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda, an exclusive Chandos artist. “There’s a dark magic in the way that the Italian cellist Enrico Dindo unfolds his opening monologue, matched by Gianandrea Noseda’s careful colouring of the muted first orchestral entry. The central Scherzo, based on an Odessa folk song, features some fabulous orchestral bassoon playing, but it’s the finale which really haunts...Terrific, and Dindo’s bravura approach gives this elusive piece much more presence than usual, helped by Noseda’s brilliant solo winds.” The Arts Desk, 11th February 2012 “The performance of Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto is particularly distinguished. Dindo musters tremendous energy and rhythmic dynamism in the outer movements while a vocally-inflected lyricism is ever-present throughout the despairing threnody of the Moderato. His apporach to the cadenza is wonderfully fluid and he draws special attention to the inner details...Noseda once again demonstrates his consummate artistry as a concerto accompanist.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ***** “Dindo is a magnificent cellist, and he has the technical measure of these very different but equally great compositions; he is very well partnered by Gianandrea Noseda and the Danish orchestra and the recording quality is first-class, but there remains a lasting impression that Dindo's technical mastery overrides his musical understanding.” International Record Review, February 2012 | | | (also available to download from $11.00) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Walton & Shostakovich: Cello Concertos
The outstanding British cellist Jamie Walton returns to disc on Signum, accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Alexander Briger. This disc includes Walton’s 1975 revision to the final movement of the cello concerto, which has never before been recorded or publicly performed (as well as a performance of the original final movement). This disc completes an Anglo-Russian trilogy of recordings by Jamie with this orchestra and conductor, proceed by pairings of Elgar & Myaskovsky Cello Concertos, and Britten & Shostakovich (Cello Symphony & Cello Concerto No.2). “his rich, malleable tone and mature sense of style [are] deployed with the discerning interpretative personality that places him in the front rank of today’s cellists...the Shostakovich that is lithe, pungent and, just as it should be, profoundly disquieting.” The Telegraph, 14th January 2011 ***** “Jamie Walton's warm and beautifully focused way with the work excels in its own right...The same unflashily vivid brilliance brings in a rich harvest in Shostakovich's First Concerto...his keening way with the slow movement's lyrical lament marks out a remarkable player. Alexander Briger and the Philharmonia supply superb accompaniments.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2011 **** “The elegiac quality in [the Walton] very much suits Jamie Walton's style,with his sweet, smooth cello tone, but he is also capable of powerfully attacking the vigorous writing...[the Shostakovich] is a most compelling performance, very strong rhythmically, with the Philharmonia's first horn relishing what amounts to a concertante role...A most valuable and enjoyable disc” Gramophone Magazine, March 2011 “Walton's sound is superbly suited to [the Walton] - he has a singing, expressive upper register, as well as the agility to dive fearlessly into the more virtuoso passages; this is playing of tremednous authority and control...[In the Shostakovich] Walton and Briger generate impressive levels of rhythmic energy, and the playing has all the spiky allure one could wish for in this piece.” International Record Review, March 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Experience: Live from New York
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| |  | Russian Masterpieces for Cello and Orchestra
Zuill Bailey, the dynamic and exhilarating American cellist, makes his Telarc debut with the release of Russian Masterpieces for Cello. The recording includes Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme Pezzo Capriccioso and Nocturne in D Minor Op. 19 No. 4, and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 107. Zuill Bailey’s rare combination of compelling artistry, technical finesse and engaging personality have secured his place as one of the most sought-after cellists today. Bailey performs regularly with long-time duo partner, pianist Awadagin Pratt, as well as with pianist Simone Dinnerstein. He is also a member of the acclaimed Perlman-Schmidt-Bailey Trio, which also includes pianist Navah Perlman and violinist Giora Schmidt. The voice of the cello is uniquely suited to the qualities of passion and melancholy that makes Russian music so provocative to listeners. Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations was written for the German-born cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. When Tchaikovsky left Russia for a lengthy stay in Western Europe, he gave Fitzenhagen a free hand in composition, which resulted in significant structural alterations to the piece. The cellist premiered his version of the Rococo Variations at a Moscow concert conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein in 1877. Tchaikovsky was displeased with the alterations, but later said, “The devil take it. Let it stay as it is.” The Fitzenhagen score is heard in Bailey’s rendition, and is considered an effective presentation of Tchaikovsky’s material. Shostakovich wrote his first cello concerto in 1959 for the distinguished cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who had frequently performed Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano with the composer at the piano. It was premiered in Leningrad with the Leningrad Philharmonic and Rostropovich. When Shostakovich gave his only public performance as a conductor in 1962, the Concerto appeared on the programme. “Overall the programme balances nicely enough as a calling-card for the stylish… soloist. …Zuill Bailey plays with impressive technical mastery… He is unfazed by the taxing double-stopping Shostakovich frequently employs in the faster passages while finding commendable depth and solemnity in the slow movement.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2009 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich - Symphony No. 1 & Concertos
Shostakovich: | Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10 Recorded: 15-20 June 1994, Philharmonie, Berlin Berliner Philharmoniker, Mariss Jansons Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102 Recorded: 21 & 22 December 1970, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London John Ogdon (piano) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lawrence Foster String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 Recorded: 13-17 January 2006, Skywalker Sound Scoring Stage, Marin County, California St. Lawrence String Quartet Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 99 Recorded: 15-17 June & 16-20 September 2005, Philharmonie, Berlin Sarah Chang (violin) Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle Cello Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 107 Recorded: 12 June 2005, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London Han-Na Chang (cello) London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano Jazz Suite No. 1 Recorded: 8-9 & 11 March 1996, Giandomenico Studios, Collingswood, New Jersey Philadelphia Orchestra, Mariss Jansons Tahiti Trot (Tea for Two), Op. 16 Recorded: 8-9 & 11 March 1996, Giandomenico Studios, Collingswood, New Jersey Philadelphia Orchestra, Mariss Jansons |
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“Chang brings clear-sighted belief to everything she touches. Her range is generous indeed, from barely-audible ghostly voices to high-octane drama… What wins me over without reservation is the superlative partnership with Pappano and the LSO on peak form. ...Pappano doubles as Chang's partner in the accompanying Sonata, taking on the fiendish quick-change artistry of the piano role with deadpan aplomb.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2006 ***** “Antonio Pappano belies his reputation for carefully prepared, soft-grained music-making, encouraging the LSO winds to emulate the edginess of Soviet Russian playing styles. True, his cellist has a smaller sound than Rostropovich, something only partly disguised by close miking, yet she plays with such conviction that you feel she too could have been the inspiration for those great composers.
Chang's intense and aggressive style carries its own risks. Adopting in fast music speeds a notch swifter than the norm, Chang combines raw emotion with a structural grip that, in its way, is even more remarkable in one so young. No doubt some will find her playing OTT, her tone too lean, her approach inelegant. And the LSO is right there with her, as deeply attentive in the slow movement as in the composer's astringent, nagging brand of fireworks elsewhere in the piece.
The Cello Sonata is a less passionate utterance, though it too has its (quieter) attractions. This is Shostakovich trying his hand at a purer, relatively neutral idiom even before Stalin's direct intervention in his creative life. With Pappano at the keyboard the performance is sympathetic if less extraordinary than that of the main work, Chang's projection at times unduly vehement. Still in her early twenties, she is none the less a phenomenon.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “Adopting in fast music speeds a notch swifter than the norm, Chang combines raw emotion with a structural grip that, in its way, is even more remarkable in one so young. …the LSO is right there with her, as deeply attentive in the slow movement as in the composer's astringent, nagging brand of fireworks elsewhere in the piece.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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