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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | 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. “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 “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 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No. 2
This CD presents music composed by Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovich, two striking personalities from recent 20th-century musical history, who were also united by an intimate friendship. They both also shared reciprocal friendship with the inspiring and energetic Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who gave the premier of both the three Suites for cello by Britten solo and the Second Cello Concerto in G by Shostakovich. Pieter Wispelwey recorded Shostakovich with the Sinfonietta Cracovia which ranks among the leading Polish and European orchestras. The exceptional atmosphere of their concerts, the enthusiastic reception by the audiences, glowing reviews and, first of all, the quality of stage performances are to confirm the sustainable development of the still young ensemble. Wispelwey needs no further explanation. In 1990 his first recording with Channel Classics, the Bach Cello Suites, was released to great acclaim and in 1992 he was the first cellist ever to receive the Netherlands Music Prize, which is endowed upon the most promising young musician in the Netherlands; thus his path was secured to the busy and varied career he has today. Recently the latest release of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with Budapest Festival Orchestra gave him, Channel Classics and Ivan Fischer and his BFO great reviews. “Whereas Müller-Schott and Kreizberg view the Concerto as a darkly contemplative monologue that is almost suffocating in its brooding introspection, Wispelwey manages to find more light and shade and greater emotional contrast in the solo part.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 ***** “Wispelwey catches the grave beauty of Shostakovich's opening Largo, with phrasing that is highly inflected but never to the point of self-conscious indulgence. Add to this an altogether exceptional sense of creative dialogue between soloist and orchestra and you have a performance that richly repays repeated hearings... Wispelwey brings a similar blend of colouristic and poetic imagination to bear on Britten's uncompromising Suite, making it a real journey of exploration.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2008 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich - Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
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“Kliegel manages to convey a feeling of spontaneous improvisation and her command of the instrument is impressive. Naxos's recording is nicely ambient.” Gramophone Magazine | | | (also available to download from $6.00) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich & Britten - Cello Concertos
Jamie Walton's second disc with Signum promises to follow in the formidable footsteps of his first release with the Philharmonia, where he played Elgar and Myaskovsky.The critical reaction to this disc has been phenomenal, from both mainstream papers and musical journals. Jamie's performance of the Elgar has also received a large amount of airplay support from Classic FM and much interest has already been expressed in this new recording. “Walton is a superb and unflashy exponent - there's no ego here, just consummate musicianship, excellently backed by the Philharmonia under Alex Briger, sensitive and biting in the Shostakovich, formidable and powerful in the Britten.” The Times | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Shostakovich - Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Even though both the First Cello Concerto Op. 107 of 1959 and the Second Cello Concerto Op.126 of 1966 were written after Stalin's death in 1953, the threat of Soviet dictatorship and censorship continues to be palpable. With the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Yakov Kreizberg, Daniel Müller-Schott offers an exemplary interpretation of both concertos that also does justice to the peculiarities and details of their instrumentation, notably in the second movement of the Second Concerto, in which Shostakovich uses a popular song from the time of the Russian Revolution to produce a grotesque dance with dissonant fanfares. No less typical of Shostakovich are the reminiscences of composers such as Mussorgsky and the set of variations in the final movement of the Op. 126 Concerto, written at a time when the composer was already marked out by death, a piece described by Daniel Müller-Schott as "perhaps the most emotionally multilayered of all cello concertos", the abrupt ending of which is as disturbing as it is profoundly moving. “As Daniel Müller-Schott intimates in his own perceptive booklet note for this release, the two Shostakovich cello concertos, although separated by just seven years, inhabit very different worlds. Müller-Schott reflects this in his cello-playing: where No 1 still has an element of post-Stalinist optimism about it, to No 2 he brings home the desperation of the composer's situation, beset with heart and neurological illness.
The soloist is set well forward in the aural picture, which emphasises Müller-Schott's eloquent tone and expression, but Yakov Kreizberg and his orchestra play their own part, with particularly vivid percussion in the Second Concerto. A gripping disc.” Matthew Rye, The Telegraph, 28th June 2008 “Müller-Schott manages the singular trick of keeping his cello tone rich and gorgeous without lessening the music’s ability to stab the heart. Listen to his lonely eloquence as he climbs up the first concerto’s second movement, and the eerie shiverings at its peak, when cello harmonics join hands with the celesta in an unearthly duet. The second concerto receives an equally febrile performance.” The Times, 27th June 2008 **** “The dark-hued and deeply introspective Second remains an elusive, enigmatic work, and it's Daniel Müller-Schott's masterly performance of that which makes this disc especially impressive. Müller-Schott studied the two concertos with Rostropovich, but his tempi for the second are much slower than his teacher's so that the work's sombre subtext - the soloist as the creative artist, pitted against the repression of the Soviet state represented by the orchestra - is impossible to ignore with a finale that ends, like Shostakovich's 15th Symphony, with the death rattle of ticking percussion. Yakov Kreizberg and the Bavarian Radio Symphony provide outstanding support.” The Guardian, 18th July 2008 **** (on the Second Concerto) “From the very outset, there's a real sense of urgency about the performance, Müller-Schott's razor-sharp articulation in the outer movements managing to combine rhythmic incisiveness with highly charged delivery. The orchestra under Yakov Kreizberg provide superb support throughout. If anything the Second Concerto is even more impressive.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 ***** “With roughly a dozen single-disc couplings of the two Shostakovich cello concertos available on CD, a new one needs a sharp profile in order to gain visibility. Müller-Schott and his supporting team have most of the obvious credentials: technique and temperament in abundance, finely judged tempi, and excellent recorded balance and perspective, the soloist placed a little further forward than in some versions, but not distractingly so. They bring dash, drive and discipline to the fast movements, and soulfulness to the slow ones. But the trick with Shostakovich is to combine those things with weight of tone and flashes of personal expression, so that the drama of the individual caught up in the machinations of larger forces gains life-or-death significance.
How that is achieved is a matter for debate and legitimate disagreement. For all Mischa Maisky's special touches of romantic eloquence, he comes up with some bizarre technical fudges in the big cadenzas, while Heinrich Schiff is far more direct but so fast and furious in the first movement of the E flat First Concerto that it loses as much in stoical defiance as it gains in physical excitement. Müller-Schott's tempi and characterisation are more central, and as a modern alternative to Rostropovich they take the lead, also because there are a number of telling passages in Kreizberg's accompaniments.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010  BBC Music Magazine
Disc of the month - August 2008 |
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| |  | Shostakovich - Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Russian cellist, Dimitri Maslennikov is an exceptional and a gifted virtuoso who can boast a whole list of concert performances with renowned orchestras and conductors at the end of this three-year scholarship awarded by the French government. Christoph Eschenbach has taken the young Russian under his wing and Phoenix Edition is delighted to present this recording of Shostakovich’s cello concertos. Christoph Eschenbach and the NDR Symphony Orchestra accompany Maslennikov on his journey through on of the most difficult masterpieces of cello literature, a reverential tribute to the Russian composer. “I've always been deeply interested, indeed passionate, about helping and supporting young talent. Marc-André Dalbavie, the prince of French composers, introduced Dimitri to me. I listened to him and found all the elements for a career in music.” Christoph Eschenbach | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Cello Concertos
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"In the First Concerto, Heinrich Schiff's excellent version with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Shostakovich can hold its own against most opposition ... I like the recording very much: it is totally natural yet very clear ... Recommended with enthusiasm."
Gramophone “These two moving and largely 'private' works can sound bombastic, but here are ideally realised by Heinrich Schiff under the composer's son's direction. The recording adds to the intimacy.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2006 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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