Composer: Johannes Brahms
Performer: Mstislav Rostropovich, Rudolf Serkin
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalogue: 4105102
Release: 2000
Size: 219 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Cello Sonata No. 1 In E Minor, Op. 38
01. I. Allegro non troppo
02. II. Allegretto quasi minuetto
03. III. Allegro – Più presto
Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99
04. I. Allegro vivace
05. II. Adagio affettuoso
06. III. Allegro passionato
07. IV. Allegro molto
Our younger generation of cello soloists seems to favour a tone production which balances a refined upper range with a middle and lower register that’s strong and well focused, rather than expansively rich and resonant. Readers will not need to be told that Rostropovich’s solo image is definitely not of this ilk: his musical personality is in every sense larger than life and in this magnificent coupling of the cello sonatas, in partnership with Rudolf Serkin, the very forward balance of the recording exaggerates this impression in the most vivid way. By comparison the piano image – to the right of and behind the cello – is more reticent in timbre and seldom matches Rostropovich’s rich flood of sound, which isn’t, of course, to suggest that Serkin fails to project the music, merely that the microphone placing makes Rostropovich very much the dominating artist. This passionately warmhearted and ripely Brahmsian music-making almost overwhelms the listener in its sheer impact. But with playing of this calibre, with both artists wonderfully attuned to each other’s responses, every nuance tells and Brahms’s bold melodic lines soar out from the speakers to capture the imagination, and provide an enthralling musical experience in each and every work.