In the early 1960s, when Rostropovich was just beginning his international career, he made a handful of recordings for Decca. This 2012 box -- issued for what would have been his 85th birthday -- brings those albums together. It includes all of the works Benjamin Britten specifically wrote for Rostropovich: the two suites, the sonata, and the Symphony for cello and orchestra, accompanied or conducted by the composer himself, making these definitive versions. There are also other sonatas they collaborated on, including ...
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In the early 1960s, when Rostropovich was just beginning his international career, he made a handful of recordings for Decca. This 2012 box -- issued for what would have been his 85th birthday -- brings those albums together. It includes all of the works Benjamin Britten specifically wrote for Rostropovich: the two suites, the sonata, and the Symphony for cello and orchestra, accompanied or conducted by the composer himself, making these definitive versions. There are also other sonatas they collaborated on, including Schubert's "Arpeggione" Sonata, which was apparently one of Rostropovich's favorites of all his recordings. The Beethoven cello sonatas make up two of the set's discs, and in these, Rostropovich was accompanied by another, slightly older Russian also just beginning a notable international career: Sviatoslav Richter. Any student of the cello would do well to hear these historically important, superlative performances. ~ Patsy Morita, Rovi
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