Vivaldi - Tartini - Boccherini - Cello Concertos - Rostropovich - Sacher on 180g Import LP

"Mstislav Rostropovich, a cellist and conductor who was renowned not only as one of the great instrumentalists of the 20th century, but also as an outspoken champion of artistic freedom in Russia during the final decades of the Cold War. As a cellist, Mr. Rostropovich played a vast repertory that included works written for him by some of the greatest composers of the 20th century. Among them were Shostakovich Cello Concertos, Prokofiev's Cello Concerto, Cello Sonata and Symphony-Concerto, Britten's Sonata, Cello Symphony and three Suites. He also played the premieres of solo works by Walton, Auric, Kabalevsky and Misaskovsky, and concertos by Lutoslawski, Panufnik, Messiaen, Schnittke, Henri Dutilleux, Arvo Pärt, Krzysztof Penderecki, Lukas Foss and Giya Kancheli." - Allan Kozinn, New York Times

Here, the acclaimed cellist along with conductor Paul Sacher performs Vivaldi's Concerto For Violoncello, Strings And Continuo In C Major (P. 31) and Concerto For Violoncello, Strings And Continuo In G Major (P. 120), Tartini's Concerto For Violoncello And Strings In A Major, and Boccherini's Concerto For Violoncello And Strings No. 2 In D Major.  180g vinyl pressing from Clearaudio.

"The greatest cellist of modern time" - well, who could argue with a statement like that? After all, Mstislav Rostropovich is a supreme virtuoso, a charismatic performer, and a sublime interpreter and virtually every one of his recordings is as good as it gets for the repertoire. The key word, of course, is virtually: while Rostropovich's Dvorák concerto with Karajan, his Beethoven sonatas with Richter, his Brahms sonatas with Serkin, and above all his Shostakovich sonata with Shostakovich are definitive, can one say the same of his Boccherini, Vivaldi, and Tartini concertos with Paul Sacher? Or could one say that Rostropovich does not so much play the music of the great Italian Baroque composers as overwhelm it, that his virtuosity, his charisma, and his interpretations are more than the music can bear and that the listener is left not with fond memories of the music but instead with the overpowering impression of an unstoppable musical personality having his way with the music." - James Leonard, All Music

“Rostropovich turns each phrase to perfection” - Stereo Review

Musicians:
- Boccherini (composer)
- Vivaldi (composer)
- Tartini (composer)
- Paul Sacher (conductor)
- Mstislav Rostropovich (cello)
- Collegium Musicum Zürich

Vivaldi - Tartini - Boccherini - Cello Concertos - Rostropovich - Sacher Track Listing:

Luigi Boccherini/Concerto for Violoncello and Strings No. 2 in D major
1.  Allegro
2.  Adagio
3.  Allegro
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi/Concerto for Violoncello, Strings and Continuo in C major (P. 31)
4.  Allego
5.  Largo
6.  Allegro
Giuseppe Tartini/Concerto for Violoncello and Strings in A major
7.  Allegro
8.  Larghetto
9.  Allegro assai
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi/Concerto for Violoncello, Strings and Continuo in G Major (P. 120)
10. Allegro
11. Largo
12. Allegro