Mstislav Rostropovich - Cellist of the Century - The Complete Warner Recordings (40CD)

This deluxe edition comprises 40 CDs and 3 DVDs. ü It comprises both studio and live recordings (ratio of studio to live is c.50/50).

It includes a number of works that Rostropovich premiered. ü The repertoire includes solo works, works for cello and piano, cello and chamber group and concertos/concertante works with orchestra.

The list of the composers featured conveys the extraordinary range and variety of music in the box, which ranges from the early 18th century to the latter 20th century.

The box contains no fewer than three versions of the Dvořák Cello Concerto, often considered the greatest of all concertos for the instrument. The version conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini (1977) is generally considered to be the essential version in the entire catalogue.

Another highlight is the recording that in many senses represents the culmination of Rostropovich’s recording career: the Bach Cello Suites, recorded in Vézelay in France in 1991; this was his only studio recording of these landmark works. They appear in both audio and video versions in the box.

A number of the live performances in the box originate from Russian tapes that were saved from destruction by resourceful Soviet archivists when Rostropovich was exiled from the USSR (1974-1990). They came back to light in the late 1990s.Other celebrated musicians appearing with Rostropovich include Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten and such great Russians as David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Yevgeny Svetlanov.

The box also contains a previously unpublished audio interview with Rostropovich, in which he discusses Shostakovich with the journalist Jon Tolansky. The interview dates from 2006 and represents Rostropovich’s testament as a musician.The recordings are complemented by a lavishly illustrated 200-page hardback book with a chronology and fascinating articles by Elizabeth Wilson, a student of Rostropovich and Claude Samuel, a former head of Radio France who knew Rostropovich well. The book contains reproductions of many rare photos and documents (including the open letter of support for Alexander Solzhenitsyn) from Rostropovich’s personal archive.

All audio recordings in the box have been remastered. Analogue recordings have been remastered in 24 bit-96khz from the original tapes