Rostropovich: Cello Concerto No. 1

Rating:
Summary: A valuable aid for cellists
Review: If you are a cellist like me, these performances are useful if just to see Rostropovich in action. The performance of the Shostakovich with the LSO is rather superb. Rostropovich is in top form and you can sense that he is at the peak of his powers. The Prokofiev is not as fine. Rostropovich is a little older but still vivacious. He gives his all, but the accompanying orchestra is atrocious, despite a conductor who seems to be giving an earnest effort. The ensemble is never together, many wind and brass solos start off confused at a wrong tempo and it doesn't appear as if the orchestra grasps the structure of the work. This is a problem when Prokofiev himself designates this work a display of cello AND orchestra. This happens to be my favorite cello concerto and Rostropovich is THE messenger for its notes but this is not the performance for a new listener of the piece. That is why the previous reviewer so callously dismissed the genius of Prokofiev without adequate knowledge of the piece. Despite all this, Rostropovich is the main attraction, and any close up video of such a unique instrumentalist in action serves more than musical enjoyment to developing string players.

Rating:
Summary: Great player, disappointing DVD
Review: The highlight of this somewhat disappointing DVD is the Shostokovich cello concerto, which is performed brilliantly by Rostropovich and the LSO. Rostropovich shows off his mastery of the cello, but there are a few intonation problems at times. Unfortunately being from 1961, the footage is in B&W, and TV technology then wasn't up to current standards. As soon as there is any motion on screen (eg Rostro's arm moving back and forward, as it does...) the moving image degrades to a blurry liney mess. Although many excellent recordings date from the 60s, this wasn't among them. The cello comes through quite well, but the orchestra sounds thin and unclear.
Next is the Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante, a piece I have not heard before, and I'm not surprised why, having heard it now. It's an interminable piece with lots of difficult playing for the cello, but goes nowhere and I have no desire to hear it again. On the plus side, Rostropovich turns on a great performance, and it is great to see this cellist at work on such a difficult piece. The footage is in colour and well filmed, but again the sound was poor to average, and at times the orchestral playing wasn't refined either.
The "Bonus" is Rostropovich on piano accompanying his wife Galina Vishnevskaya, playing entirely from memory. The piece is Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, which was not at all to my taste, but may be to other's. Vishnevskaya's performance was very dramatic and sounded impressive, but I don't pretend to be a critic of vocal performers. Filming was to a live very serious-looking audience, whose heads unfortunately obscurred much of the screen most of the time.
So in summary a disappointing buy, and only really worth it to see a great cellist in action. There are probably other better DVDs to try if you want to see Rostropovich at work.