Beethoven Cello Sonatas Nos. 1-5 / Rostropovich, Richter

Rating:
Summary: Two Masters at the Height of their Powers
Review: Despite his enormous discography, there's not a very rich visual record of Richter. He and Rostropovich excelled in concert performance, and these DVDs convey their intensity playing some of the best music ever written for the cello. Richter once said in an interview that Beethoven is a matter of life and death, and that feeling comes through quite clearly here. There's a bonus solo piano reading of Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses, Op. 54, that is dazzling.

Rating:
Summary: Immaculate
Review: Sublime. Nothing else could properly describe this union of giants.

Rating:
Summary: Unbeatable Beethoven Cello sonatas on DVD
Review: The Beethoven cello sonatas that I go to most often, other than these also include Fournier/Kempff, Casals/Horszowski and Tortelier/Heidsieck. Each has something to offer which the others don't. Richter/Rostropovich's 24 bit version (Philips) has excellent sound, but the one that remains the most appealing despite it's poorer sound, is nevertheless Casals/Horszowski. Needless to say, they are only CDs. Here we have Richter or Rostropovich playing right in front of us and each one of them deserves a 5 star if not more, and we have the two put together.

The sound of this DVD is somewhat like their Philips version before it was remastered into 24 bit ( but they are from different performances). It is anyway good enough for the enjoyment of the music, for both the cello and the piano part.

The picture quality is even better, much better than most contemporary colour versions. The angle of view is the best one could hope for, with the two sitting at a right angle, back to back while the camera shoots from 45 degree from the air covering both Rcihter's hands and Rostropovich's at the same time for most of the time. The speed of filming is however, slow for fast actions: whenever we have a vibrato, the vision of Rostropovich's left hand is for sure blurred and likewise for the pianist. The quality is otherwise very good. Also note that there arn't too much bodily movements especially from Rostropovich.

Richter has been hailed as the best pianist of the century somewhat like Oistrakh has been called the king of the violin. Whether this is justified is besides the point, as there are plenty of evidence here to support such an arugument. Suffice to say that Richter has won the admiration of even Michelangeli. As for his Beethoven, I however invite readers to go to Rachmaninoff where the pianist interprete Beethoven more from a composer's point of view, where his major concern was music, instead of just from a performer's point of view where the interpretation is somewhat confined within the four corners of the score, however colossal his technique might be or however deep his interpretation may be. The tradition of great musicianship is also better preserved in Rachmaninoff too. As far as phrasing or even music is concerned, I also invite reader to listen to Horszowski as well. I wouldn't say he is better than Richter, but he certainly has something to offer which could not be seen fron Richter. But the latters were of course CDs only.

Rating:
Summary: Beethoven Cello Sonatas Nos. 1-5 / Rostropovich, Richter
Review: There is simply no better performance of 69, audio or video. The transition in to the last movement is so dramatic, so exciting, taking your breathe away.