Mstislav Rostropovich With Edo DeWaart And The San Francisco Symphony Play Music Of Mozart, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov And Tchaikovsky – 1979 – Past Daily Mid-Week Concert

Part 1 –

Part 2

Back to rarities this week. A concert by the San Francisco Symphony led by its then-Music Director Edo DeWaart and featuring the legendary Russian Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich in music of Mozart, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky.

No premiers or new works – pretty much meat-and-potatoes this week. But Rostropovich is more than worth the price of admission alone.

Rostropovich was a huge influence on the younger generation of cellists. Many have openly acknowledged their debt to his example. In the Daily Telegraph, Julian Lloyd Webber called him “probably the greatest cellist of all time.”

Rostropovich either commissioned or was the recipient of compositions by many composers including Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Benjamin Britten, Henri Dutilleux, Olivier Messiaen, André Jolivet, Witold Lutosławski, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Leonard Bernstein, Alfred Schnittke, Aram Khachaturian, Astor Piazzolla, Andreas Makris, Sofia Gubaidulina, Arthur Bliss, Colin Matthews and Lopes Graça. His commissions of new works enlarged the cello repertoire more than any previous cellist: he gave the premiere of 117 compositions.

Rostropovich is also well known for his interpretations of standard repertoire works, including Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor.

Between 1997 and 2001 he was intimately involved in the development and testing of the BACH.Bow, a curved bow designed by the cellist Michael Bach. In 2001 he invited Michael Bach for a presentation of his BACH.Bow to Paris (7th Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch). In July 2011, the city of Moscow announced plans to erect a statue of Rostropovich in a central square, and the statue was unveiled in March 2012.

He was also a notably generous spirit. Seiji Ozawa relates an anecdote: on hearing of the death of the baby daughter of his friend the sumo wrestler Chiyonofuji, Rostropovich flew unannounced to Tokyo, took a 1+1⁄2-hour cab ride to Chiyonofuji’s house and played his Bach sarabande outside, as his gesture of sympathy—then got back in the taxi and returned to the airport to fly back to Europe.

Rostropovich is included in the Russian-American Chamber of Fame of Congress of Russian Americans, which is dedicated to Russian immigrants who made outstanding contributions to American science or culture.

Here’s what’s on the players:
San Francisco Symphony
Edo DeWaart, cond.
Mstislav Rostropovich, Cello

Broadcast – Feb. 20, 1979

Part 1 (Top Player)

1. Mozart – Overture to Don Giovanni
2. Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B Minor – (Rostropovich, cello)

Part 2 (Bottom Player)

1. Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture
2. Tchaikovsky: Fantasy Overture: Romeo & Juliet

It should nicely qualify for Anti-Road Rage Wednesday.

Relax and enjoy.

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