| THE
EARLY RECORDINGS |
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A
FanFaire-UMG/DEUTSCHE GRAMOPHONE CD Giveaway
in Remembrance of the Legend that was ROSTROPOVICH
In celebration of Maestro Rostropovich's 80th birthday (on March
27, 2007), record labels released albums that recall the highlights
and milestones in the musical life of this giant of classical
music. As it turned out, when he passed away a month to the day
after his birthday, these albums have become a fitting memorial
as well.
This double album by Deutsche Gramophone is among these special
issues. A remembrance of his early days, it is a compilation of
his early recordings from the 1950s, including on Disc 1 Saint-Saens'
and Schumann's cello concertos with which he is intimately associated
and, on Disc 2, some of his favorite shorter cello pieces - smaller
gems than the grand concertos, but, as you will hear, gems nonetheless.
Some of them are heard on CD for the first time.
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These
are not the famous recordings those who have followed the great
cellist's career know best: the orchestral pieces, for example,
are played with Russian orchestras led by conductors that are
less than household names, performed when he was barely known
outside his native land. Yet, perceptibly, these performances
were among the sparks that ignited one of the most brilliant careers
in the history of classical music. The richness of tone,
the technical mastery, and most of all, the love of music and
the boundless enthusiasm that infused his playing - they all shine
through these early recordings.
The Saint-Saens concerto had a special meaning for him. He learned
it under the tutelage of his father Leopold who was a well-known
cellist and teacher in his time, and it was the vehicle for his
orchestral debut at age 13. And there is enjoyment to be had from
comparing the youthful Schumann concerto in this album with the
legendary recording of his mature years (e.g., with
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and the Leningrad Philharmonic).
As to the selections on the second disc some of which are sampled
here, these are shorter pieces that Rostropovich loved. The works
by Chopin, Schumann and Popper which were composed for the cello,
while the rest are arrangements. The clip from the piece by Chopin
was selected to highlight the fact that Chopin composed not only
for the piano as most us are inclined to believe. In much
the same way, Richard Strauss' plaintive piece tells us that this
20th century master of orchestration also composed, aside from
Lieder, other shorter pieces (for solo instrument).
The clip from Borodin's Prince Igor is excerpted here
because it is an interesting juxtaposition of two themes from
the opera (the Chorus of the Polovtsian Maidens and the Dance
of the Polovtsian Maidens) and as a reminder of both the cellist's
Russian origins and his recital and concert performances with
his wife, the famed opera singer, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya.
Finally, the piece by Paganini is a veritable study in perpetual
motion, originally for the violin of course, but adapted in this
case for the cello, and his performance of which Rostropovich
had a particularly vivid recollection: "The Moto perpetuo
of Paganini has the Devil's difficulties on cello. I played
it five times, beginning to end. One time I played phenomenally
and I was so happy - then I missed the last note." As
you will hear from the last bars of the piece excerpted here,
this was definitely NOT the recording of the "missed last
note." Indeed, every note in these recordings
of the promising, young Rostropovich bears the mark of the legend
that music lovers all over the world came to know and love.
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| Disc
1 |
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a)
Saint-Saens:Cello
Concerto No. 1 (Tr 1) 1953
with the Symphony Orchesta of the All-Union
Radio, Grigory Stolyarov- conductor
b) Schumann:Cello
Concerto (Tr 4) 1954
with the Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow State
Philharmonic, Samuel Samosud - conductor
c) Glazunov:Chant
du Menestrel (Tr 7) 1954
with the Moscow Youth Orchestra, Kiril Kondrashin
- conductor
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| Disc
2 |
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a)
Chopin: Introduction
and Polonnaise Brilliante (Tr 1)
b) Granados: Intermezzo from Goyescas 1954
with Alexander Dedyukin, piano
c) Borodin: Excerpts
from Prince Igor (Tr 3) 1954
Chorus of the Polovtsian Maidens - Dance of
the Polovtsian Maidens
with Walter Naum, piano
d) Prokokiev: Adagio from Cinderella 1954
with Alexander Dedyukin, piano
e) Popper: Elfentanz op. 39 (unkown date of recording)
with Alexander Dedyukin, piano
f) R. Strauss: En
einsamer Quelle (Tr 6) 1954
By the Brook - Près d'une source no. 2 from
Stimmungsbilder op. 9
g) Schumann: Fünf Stücke im Volkston, op. 102 1954
Five Pieces in the Popular Style
with Vladimir Yampolsky, piano
h) Handel: Aria- "Vouchsafe, O Lord" 1954
from the "Dettingen" Te Deum
with Walter Naum, piano
i) Paganini: Moto
Perpetuo (Tr 11)date of recording unknown
with Vladimir Yampolsky, piano |
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