Rostropovich/Britten: "Arpeggione" Sonata + Bridge - London CS 6649

$

95

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This superb LP from London (CS 6649, English Decca pressing, red/silver NB London ffrr “Stereophonic” label, original inner sleeve included) features Mstislav Rostropovich's classic accounts of Franz Schubert's 'Arpeggione' Sonata in A minor D. 821 and Frank Bridge's Sonata for Cello and Piano H. 125, both recorded with composer Benjamin Britten at the piano at The Maltings, Snape, Aldeburgh England in July 1968 – chamber music-making at its absolute finest.

 

Wrote critic Hilary Finch in the April 1995 issue of The Gramophone: "The Maltings, Snape, July 1968: Britten was greeting two of his dearest musical friends and mentors; Rostropovich was making two important discoveries. This reissue is a major historic document reminding some listeners of, and revealing to others for the first time, the special nature of the musical relationship between composer, cellist and the music which they were performing.

 

"Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata was new to Rostropovich. In the broad, exploratory charting of its territory, both Britten and Rostropovich enjoy many a moment of—if not drooling—then licking their lips over its more delectable turns of melody and harmonic contours. And why not? They make us stand and stare at much we might have missed: every time its opening melody recurs, it seems reinvented, and Britten's delight in peeping out when least expected from the ''cradle'' Rostropovich said that he had created for him, throws many an idea into bright new relief. Britten as Lieder accompanist comes to the fore, of course, in the slow movement. Here Rostropovich does make a meal of it, and it will be something of a relief to most listeners, I suspect, to move into the dearer air of the finale. Even here, though, the bite as well as the bark of the furiant episodes is something else.

 

"Rostropovich's is certainly the dominant voice at the start of the Frank Bridge Sonata, though both cello and piano go on to flex the work's Bergian muscles to the full in a recording which eavesdrops on every movement of the finger, every breath in the body."

 

There are been few more inspired partnerships than this – a gramophone classic.

 

Incidentally, the fine liner notes on the reverse, in English only, are by Geoffrey Crankshaw.

 

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

 

The condition of the jacket is EXCELLENT. There is minor bumping at corners and slight edgewear, but that is all. There are no seamsplits, bends, owners’ markings, or other defects, and the album remains solid, bright, and highly atractive – overall, this rates as an excellent collector's copy.

 

The condition of the LP is EXCELLENT. Although the surfaces are not always completely CD silent, in general the playback is superb. Only those requiring an absolutely flawless copy need hesitate – overall, this rates as a fine collector's copy.

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