Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Mstislav Rostropovich
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Supraphon
Catalogue: SU40442
Release: 2011
Size: 326 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Suite No. 1 in G-Sharp Major
01. Prélude
02. Allemande
03. Courante
04. Sarabande
05. Menuet I, II
06. Gigue
Suite for Solo Cello No. 2 in D-Sharp Minor
07. Prélude
08. Allemande
09. Courante
10. Sarabande
11. Menuet I, II
12. Gigue
Suite No. 3 in C-Sharp Major
13. Prélude
14. Allemande
15. Courante
16. Sarabande
17. Bourrée I, II
18. Gigue
Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major
19. Prélude
20. Allemande
21. Courante
22. Sarabande
23. Bourrée I, II
24. Gigue
Suite No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor
25. Prélude and Fugue
26. Allemande
27. Courante
28. Sarabande
29. Gavotte I, II
30. Gigue
Suite for Cello No. 6, “A cinq cordes” in D-Sharp Major
31. Prélude
32. Allemande
33. Courante
34. Sarabande
35. Gavotte I, II
36. Gigue
Today, Bach’s suites form part of the repertoire of every distinguished cellist, and many of them have recorded the complete cycle.
Yet when sixty years ago the twenty-four-year-old Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007) first performed all the suites in public, it was a trailblazing act, linking up to the previous endeavour of Pablo Casals. When this live recording was made in 1955 at the Prague Spring festival, Rostropovich was 28 years of age.
He astounded the audience with his youthful verve and surprising artistic maturity. At the festival Rostropovich met his lifelong love, Galina Vishnevskaya, whom upon returning to Moscow he married after several days of acquaintance.
When in 1991 the cellist made a complete recording of the Bach suites in France, he was 64. Hence, all the more precious is this live recording from the Czech Radio archives, which waited more than half a century for its release. As a lover and connoisseur of wine, Rostropovich would certainly agree that some wines – and some recordings too – acquire a richer taste and a higher value over time. A sensational, newly discovered 1955 Rostropovich recording of the Bach suites.