Schubert, Debussy / Rostropovich, Britten

One of my favorite cello recordings

Any one of the three pieces on this recording is worth the price of the enitire cd. My favorite of the three is Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata. I find it simply one of the most beautiful and sad pieces of music ever written. Until recently I didn't realize the depth and highly poetic nature of Schubert's music, especially his chamber and piano works. The fact that he died at a relatively young age is a true loss for humanity.

The musicianship on this recording is world class. Rostropovitch is my all-time favorite cellist, and then pairing his expressive playing with the piano accompaniment of Benjamin Britten, one of the great musical minds of the 20th century,...what more can one ask? Ok, a recording of high sound quality, which is also the case here. December 14, 2007

magisterial recordings from 1968 and 1961

These are indeed magisterial readings, actually dating from 1961 (Schumann and Debussy) and 1968 (Schubert), in superb transfers. The front cover of this Decca Legends CD reissue is a little misleading about these dates, but the inside pages are clear and awesomely complete about this info and more on the technical processes, with the welcome bonus of reproductions of the two original LP covers from which these three pieces are culled.

They are ample, highly-charged romantic readings, leisurely in tempo, hightlighting the brooding wistfulness of Schubert's sonata rather than its youthful geniality, with warm, lyrical, indeed vocal tone and a wealth of nuances from the cellist, magnificent attention to dynamics and articulation from the pianist and superb listening of each other. How can anyone hearing this call the arpeggione sonata a "minor" work eludes me. The same values are applied to the Debussy sonata, resulting in a highly original and convincing interpretation, far removed from the relative dryness that characterized the French tradition of interpretation of that piece (witness Maréchal and Casadesus 1946 recording, reissued by Sony in their complete Casadesus collection). Ample, brooding, profound, harrowing, conjuring an enigmatic sound-world, with the second movement cello pizzicatos explosive like a menacing jazz double-bass: at their hands the sonata sounds like a meditation on approaching death (this was indeed one of Debussy's last compositions) - almost like a composition of Britten, one is tempted to say, and it is hard to imagine it played otherwise after that experience.

Decca's reissue poses a tricky problem of coupling and duplication, though. The Debussy and Schumann originally came on an LP with Britten's cello/piano sonata, and the Schubert was initially paired with Frank Bridge's cello/piano sonata. Now Decca has aptly reissued the Britten in an homogeneous coupling with the composer's two first solo cello suites, performed again by Rostropovich, an indispensable disc for any Britten and/or Rostropovich admirer - or just music lover (Cello Suites). But the Bridge they have reissued on CD again with the Schubert, as in the original LP - an understandable choice if not very generous in terms of timing (52'), but one that imposes on the record buyer an irksome duplication with the present disc (Schubert: Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano; Bridge: Sonata for Cello and Piano).

Bridge was Britten's teacher, so the latter's advocacy of his music is perhaps understandable, yet the cello sonata sounds to me like a broodingly romantic but ultiately impersonal and dull affair, and if forced to chose I would rather be with Schubert-Schumann-Debussy (more favorable in timing too, with 59') than with Schubert-Bridge. However, if like I do you consider that anything recorded by Britten and Rostropovich is of significance, Decca has reissued the Bridge sonata in one of their "British Music Collection" (470-189-2), paired - not very generously in terms of timing (57') - with 3 tone poems recorded in 1996 by the Academy of Saint-Martin in the Fields led by Neville Marriner (originally published in a collection called English Seasons, with tone poems by Bax, Delius, Foulds and Grainger), plus a short song by Kathleen Ferrier. It seems available only from Amazon.uk, though.

Anyway - yes, this Schubert-Schumann-Debussy is indeed of legendary stature.
September 13, 2006

Great recording of lesser works.

The highlight of this recording is the Schubert sonata for the Arpegione,the obsoleteness of which resulted in a free-for-all competition for transcriptions.The arrangement for cello and piano is perhaps the most famous.And in this recording,Rostropovich and Britten's excellent mastery of the work makes it sound as if Schubert had written this sonata for the cello.The beautiful cantabile inspirations are played with astounding expressiveness from both Rostropovich are Britten.the Arpegione Sonata is perhaps not a great masterpiece.But with stupendously beautiful playing from these 2 artists of the highest calibre at their highest achievements,the sonata really becomes a chef-d'oeuvre.The Schumann Cello Pieces and the Debussy Cello Sonata are pretty much the same case.They are lesser known works from both composers.But under Rostropovich and Britten's marvellous playing,one must wonder why these 2 works can ever be considered as a sign of the dwindling of the composing powers of Schumann and Debussy. August 9, 2005

Desert Island Disc stuff here!

This is chamber music at its absolute finest. Britten was a pianist of extraordinarily understated warmth and sensitivity and the perfect accompanist to Rostropovich's soaringly beautiful cello playing. This is really is a music date beyond the every day, where something truly magical occurred between two legendary musicians. Apart from this, the quality and tone of recording are second to none. Other reviewers on this site have sniffed slightly at the choice of music, dismissing the Schumann in particular as unsophisticated. Don't listen to them. This is playing of such beauty and passion that, if you are a fan of even just one of the composers featured here - Schubert, Schummann or Debussy - you simply cannot afford to ignore this. March 11, 2005

Sublime

This is just a joy from the first play.

Schubert is IMO the preeminent master of chamber music as he was of lieder. This performance of a rarely performed gem should put debate to rest on that. After all Schubert only had an outlet for his chamber-scale pieces...his symphonies remained undiscovered for decades. His death at 31 is one of the greatest tragedies to befall civilization and if you think I'm exaggerating buy this disc.

I seem to glaze off through the Schumann although it is probably just not as interesting a composition as the other two, and it suffers by comparison. His concerto certainly demonstrates he understood the instrument so I will have to listen more attentively.

The Debussy is interesting to me because I haven't heard Rostro play much modern stuff outside of Russians and he does a remarkably effective job of it. I'm not sure I've been impressed more by an instrumentalist than Rostro but that might be as stupidly obvious a statement as my comments on Schubert above. August 9, 2004

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