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Rostropovich conducts Prokofiev - The Complete Symphonies

Label: Warner

Cat No: 2564696755

Barcode: 0825646967551

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 4

Genre: Orchestral

Release Date: 7th April 2008

This product has now been deleted. Information is for reference only.

Works

Prokofiev, Sergei

Symphony no.1 in D major, op.25 'Classical'
Symphony no.2 in D minor, op.40
Symphony no.3 in C minor, op.44
Symphony no.4 in C major, op.47
Symphony no.5 in B flat major, op.100
Symphony no.6 in E flat minor, op.111
Symphony no.7 in C sharp minor, op.131

Artists

Orchestre National de France

Conductor

Mstislav Rostropovich

Works

Prokofiev, Sergei

Artists

Orchestre National de France

Conductor

Mstislav Rostropovich

About

From the Daily Telegraph 28-04-07:
'Mstislav Rostropovich, the cellist, conductor and pianist whose death aged 80 was announced yesterday, was generally regarded as the greatest, and was certainly the most famous, cellist since Pablo Casals.

Works were written for him by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Britten, Lutoslawski, Bliss and others, all of whom were his friends. He took up conducting when he was 33 and made a parallel career on the rostrum in the opera house and the concert-hall.

In 1948 he invited Prokofiev to one of his recitals, at which he played the composer's cello concerto.

This work had been a failure at its first performance in 1939. Prokofiev was so impressed by the young cellist's artistry that he revised the concerto and then converted it into the Sinfonia Concertante, dedicating it to Rostropovich, who gave the first performance in February 1952 with Sviatoslav Richter conducting.

The recital at which Rostropovich had played the concerto occurred 12 days before the infamous Andrei Zhdanov, who ran Stalin's cultural policy, denounced Shostakovich and Prokofiev for their failure to reflect "Soviet realism" in their music.’