Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Ballet Suites (Mstislav Rostropovich)

Information

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• Swan Lake, Op. 20a
• The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66a
• The Nutcracker, Op. 71a

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Mstislav Rostropovich, conductor

Date: 1978

Label: Deutsche Grammophon

-----------------------------------------------------------

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Romantic Russian composer. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression.

***

Mstislav Rostropovich (27 March 1927 – 27 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor, one of the best-known cellists of the 20th century. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, he was trained by his parents and at the Moscow Conservatory (1943–48), where he was a professor from 1956. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. Although sometimes criticized for occasional over-romanticism, Rostropovich was admired for his keen musicianship. He was also well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works (over 100 pieces), which enlarged the cello repertoire more than any cellist before or since.

-----------------------------------------------------------