Stereo Review November 1992
NICOLAI MIASKOVSKY Cello Concerto in C Minor Op. 66
SHOSTAKOVICH Adagio (from “The Limpid Stream”)
TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme Op. 33; Nocturne in D Minor
Miaskovsky – Concerto
Tchaikovsky – Rococo Variations
Russian Music for Cello and Orchestra
THE cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and the conductor Maxim Shostakovich have joined forces with the London Symphony Orchestra to bring us the first generally available recording of Nikolai Miaskovsky Cello Concerto since the Rostropovich Sargent version of 1957, along with works by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. The Miaskovsky concerto, a first-class work in the post-Romantic Russian manner, is in two movements, one ruminatively lyrical, the other contrasting lyrical and dynamic elements. It should be better known than it is. The soloist and conductor here take a decidedly broader view of the music than the young Rostropovich did, but the music retains its warmth and viability either way.
As a kind of intermezzo, we get the original version of a slow movement from Shostakovich 1935 ballet The Limpid Stream, which suffered the same treatment under Stalin as his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Fourth Symphony (its premiere was canceled). It does not, however, rank with those works, amounting to second-drawer Shostakovich in a neo-Tchaikovskian vein. (Much of the other music from the ballet turns up in recordings of the various ballet suites compiled by Levon Avtovmian.)
The third performance on the CD, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, is of special interest in that it is one of the very few recorded versions of the music as it was written, with the variations in the correct order and the original finale restored. What we usually hear is an edition prepared by Wilhelm Fitzhagen, who commissioned the piece and had it published without Tchaikovsky approval, much to the composer rage and disgust. The version here is not as flashy as what we re used to, but it is the genuine article and very beautifully played in the bargain. Webber cello playing is mellifluous rather than aggressively virtuosic, but that style goes with the character of most of the music here, the exception being the more brilliant patches in the Miaskovsky concerto, where Rostropovich remains unbeatable. If sound is a major consideration, you can t go wrong with the new Philips recording.
David Hall
TCHAIKOVSKY: Variations on a Rococo Theme; Hocturno in D Minor.
MIASKOVSKY: Cello Concerto.
SHOSTAKOVICH: The Limpid Stream, Adagio.
Webber; London Symphony Orchestra, M. Shostakovich
PHILIPS 434 106(64 mm)
