Haydn - Cello Concertos Nos 1 & 2

Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Mstislav Rostropovich vc

EMI 567234-2 Buy now

(49' · ADD)

Recorded 1975.

This deserves a place on any collector’s shelf. With Rostropovich directing from the bow, the ASMF sounds a little less sturdy than usual, a little more lithe in the First Concerto. The scale of its first movement is little short of perfection: everything a Moderato should be, with Rostropovich humming along nonchalantly in its second theme. He’s leisurely in the Adagio, playing it as an extended meditation which exists almost outside time. Without ever losing the life of the melodic line, Rostropovich progresses as slowly as it’s humanly possible to do without total stasis; and, to wonderfully joyful effect, breaks all records for speed in the finale. Every note, every sequential phrase is there in its place, secured by glintingly true intonation and needle-sharp dramatic timing. The almost complete absence of physical stick and finger sound which Rostropovich and his engineers manage between them makes the latter two movements of the Second Concerto a most pleasing experience. Rostropovich takes deep, long breaths: the surface of his slow movement is glassy, every fragment of bowing and phrasing given the microscopic hairpin treatment. For his deep, instinctive understanding of scale, and for Britten’s cadenzas, many collectors’ preferences in these concertos will remain with Rostropovich.