Cello Concertos Mstislav Rostropovich (cello); Orchestre de Paris/Serge Baudo, Witold Lutosławski Warner 567 8672
Rostropovich excels in two concertos written for him, beguiling in the mysterious soundworld of the Dutilleux and thrilling in the Lutosławski.
Dvořák Cello Concerto Mstislav Rostropovich (cello); Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan DG 447 4132
Rostropovich recorded Dvořák’s Concerto several times. This superb version with Karajan followed soon after his dramatic, and historic, BBC Proms performance in 1968.
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 Mstislav Rostropovich (cello); Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy Sony Classical 517 1892
In arguably the most famous concerto written for him, not to mention one of the most fiendishly difficult, Rostropovich delivers a performance of extraordinary passion.
Britten Cello Symphony Mstislav Rostropovich (cello); New Philharmonia Orchestra/Benjamin Britten Decca E425 1002
Britten himself conducts the dark and often deeply unsettling work that he wrote for his great Russian friend in 1963.
Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante Mstislav Rostropovich; Royal Philharmonic/Malcolm Sargent Warner 380 0132
Written for a young Rostropovich by a composer in failing health and under the suspicion of the authorities, the cellist is unmatched in reflecting the piece’s bleak origins.
