Dvořák; Tchaikovsky - Cello Concerto; Rococo Variations (Mstislav Rostropovich)

Information

Composer: Antonín Dvořák; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• Dvořák - Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
• Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo theme, Op. 33

Mstislav Rostropovich, cello

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Date: 1968

Label: Deutsche Grammophon

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Antonín Dvořák (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer. He was the second Czech composer to achieve worldwide recognition, after Bedřich Smetana. Following Smetana's nationalist example, many of Dvořák's works show the influence of Czech folk music, such as his  two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs. Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: nine symphonies, ten operas, three concertos, several symphonic poems, serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble, more than 40 works of chamber music, and piano music.

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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.

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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.

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