Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 99(77)[a]; Cello Concerto No. 1 in Eb major, Op. 107[b].
[a]Dimitri Mitropoulos, New York Philharmonic, David Oistrakh (violin).
[b]Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich (cello).
Sony Classical Masterworks Heritage MHK 63327. ADD mono[a]/stereo[b]. TT 63:46.
Recorded 2 Jan. 1956, Carnegie Hall, New York[a]/8 Nov. 1959, Broadwood Hotel, Philadelphia[b].
Reissues of world première recordings.

This recording of the cello concerto is the comparative version to which I referred in my review of Revelation's Rostropovich disc in DSCH No. 9, having previously appeared on a CBS Masterworks Portrait album. Shostakovich himself was in attendance at the recording sessions, which followed hot on the heels of the U.S. première, making this perhaps the most authoritative recording of the concerto available to us. The Philadelphia Orchestra's playing is at once virtuosic and responsive to the cellist, and if, finally, they don't convey the last measure of hollowness (listen to the second movement) their engagement with the music is fanatical ... besides, the cello bears the main burden of anguish. In the outer movements, Rostropovich barges forward fearlessly, leaving no sense that his playing is the tamer for taking place in the studio.

The new 20-bit digital remastering is remarkably successful, simultaneously filtering out more hiss and reporting higher frequencies than the previous CBS remastering. Acoustics are stable and rich with no compression in loud passages.

The remastering of the Violin Concerto is no less admirable, and if the original mono tape has the violin unnaturally spotlit, this is rarely distracting. Oistrakh's is a bravura performance, for sheer mastery unsurpassed by modern successors. In the Passacaglia, Oistrakh's rhythmic footing is now and then questionable, but by such microscopic degrees that I hesitate to mention it. That movement does sound a little remote, which might reflect a lingering subconscious impulse to hold this politically fraught opus at arm's length (Irina Shostakovich is not the only witness from those times to recall Oistrakh's fear of putting his stamp on this piece).

Elsewhere, though, Oistrakh leaves one in absolutely no doubt as to his organic connection with his instrument, and it is precisely in the more technically dazzling sections (the Scherzo, the Andante of the third movement, and the final movement) where one is least conscious of his role as intermediary, so accurate and seemingly effortless is his tone. Even in that devilish second movement, the New York Philharmonic provide sterling support.

The packaging of this release is quite special too. As in Sony's earlier release of Fritz Reiner recordings featuring his sober reading of Shostakovich's Sixth Symphony (MHK 62343), the conventional plastic jewel case is replaced by a cardboard folder of the same dimensions, containing the booklet notes affixed to the front cover, and a sleeve holding the CD glued to the back cover. This format successfully recalls the packaging of vinyl LPs, and the notes to the present release include an article on (and an old advertisement for) long-playing records in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of that medium. Better still, the artwork and liner notes are reprinted from the original LP issues, and there are no less than twenty-one archival photographs of Shostakovich and the performers at the recording sessions, only a few of which appeared on the original releases. Documentation is meticulous. All in all, this is a most creative and classy production that should appeal to anyone encountering these recordings for the first time, and stir fond memories for those of us fortunate enough to have known these performances in their LP incarnations. Recommended with all possible enthusiasm.

W. Mark Roberts
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DSCH No. 10.
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