# Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, op. 104



## science

Dvořák's Cello Concerto is currently on the fifth tier of the Talk Classical community's favorite and most highly recommended works, making it Dvořák's highest-rated work and (by quite some distance) the highest-ranked cello concerto.

As usual for a work of this stature, Wikipedia has a nice article about it, including fairly extensive historical background and a little analysis that amounts to a listening guide. The best source for recording recommendations is probably Trout's blog post on this work:



> Condensed Listing:
> 1.	Fournier, Szell (cond.), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra	(1961)
> 2.	Rostropovich, Karajan (cond.), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra	(1968)
> 3.	Casals, Szell (cond.), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra	(1937)
> 4.	Rostropovich, Talich (cond.), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra	(1951)
> 5.	Du Pré, Barenboim (cond.), Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra	(1970)
> 6.	Starker, Doráti (cond.), London Symphony Orchestra	(1962)
> 7.	Queyras, Bělohlávek (cond.), Prague Philharmonia	(2004)
> 8.	Du Pré, Celibidache (cond.), Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra	(1967)
> 9.	Rose, Ormandy (cond.), Philadelphia Orchestra	(1964)
> 10.	Piatigorsky, Munch (cond.), Boston Symphony Orchestra	(1960)


As usual, the main questions of this thread are: *Do you like this work? Do you love it? Why? What do you like about it? Do you have any reservations about it?*

And of course, what are your favorite recordings?


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## MusicSybarite

It's arguably the best cello concerto ever penned, and I consider it as my absolute favorite. It blends nobility, melancholy, heroism, accurate instrumental assignation, memorable melodies and the touch of genius, it expresses the soul of the instrument as no other concerto can (and I dare to say not even the Elgar reaches that (a subjective view, I know)). I can't find any bad thing about it, it's practically perfect to my ears. My favorite recordings are Rostropovich-Karajan and Du Pré-Barenboim.


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## DavidA

The greatest cello concerto although I love the Elgar too.
The recordings of the Dvorak I have:

Fournier, Szell (cond.), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra	(1961)
Rostropovich, Karajan (cond.), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra	(1968)
Casals, Szell (cond.), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra	(1937)
Rostropovich, Talich (cond.), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra	(1951)
Du Pré, Barenboim (cond.), Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra	(1970)
Piatigorsky, Munch (cond.), Boston Symphony Orchestra	(1960)

All very good. If I to choose one it is Rostropovich / Karajan


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## Mandryka

There's a recording with Emanuel Feuermann and Michael Taube in Berlin where they take it very quickly, I don't know how performers' decisions about speed were reached.


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## Art Rock

Dvorak is a favourite composer of mine (easily top 10), and I love concertos in general and cello concertos in particular. And yet, this particular work never really clicked with me. I could easily pick a dozen cello concertos I prefer to it.


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## Enthusiast

It is a good concerto for an instrument that didn't get many concertos written for it until Rostropovich invited everyone to write for him - which led to numerous masterpieces. I'm happy with the list of recordings in the OP.


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## Brahmsianhorn

Mandryka said:


> There's a recording with Emanuel Feuermann and Michael Taube in Berlin where they take it very quickly, I don't know how performers' decisions about speed were reached.


That's one of my favorites. My absolute favorite is his 1941 recording with Leo Barzin. Better sound and a more free interpretation. I also like Casals/Szell and Rostropovich/Talich.


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## wkasimer

One of my absolute favorite works - the first LP I ever bought was Rostropovich/Boult on Seraphim.

I like the usual suspects - Rostropovich/Talich, Casals/Szell, Queyras/Belohavek - but there are a number of lesser known cellists who have made superb recordings - Angelica May (with Neumann, CzPO), Michaela Fukacova (with Belohlavek, Prague SO), Miklos Perenyi (with Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra). Alisa Weilerstein and the late Jiri Belohlavek made a fine recent recording with the Czech PO for Decca.


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## Sid James

An epic work, by consensus among the masterpieces for the instrument. I first heard it on the Rostropovich/Ozawa recording, and used to have the Feuermann/Barzin and Fournier/Scherchen. I currently have Schiff/Davis which took a bit of getting used to, coming across less heroic and more gentle.

Rostropovich kind of owned this piece. I’ve often related the story of how he performed it with tears in his eyes when visiting the UK. It was 1968, at the time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. It took on political dimensions, becoming a requiem for the Czech people.

On a personal note, I’ve always thought of the coda as a huge orgasm. I wasn’t surprised to see it used exactly for that effect in The Witches of Eastwick, the scene where Susan Sarandon is playing it on cello as instructed by the devil, Jack Nicholson.


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## Brahmsian Colors

My favorite concerto along with the Violin and Double Concertos of Brahms.

Preferred versions: Fournier/Szell/Berlin Philharmonic; Starker/Dorati/London Symphony; Gendron/Haitink/London Philharmonic; Harrell/Levine/London Symphony


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## wkasimer

> Rostropovich kind of owned this piece. I've often related the story of how he performed it with tears in his eyes when visiting the UK. It was 1968, at the time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. It took on political dimensions, becoming a requiem for the Czech people.


This performance is available on CD:


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## Phil loves classical

My favourite version is Janos Starker and Dorati. I like the balance between the orchestra and soloist. I also have Fournier, Casals, Rostropovich.


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## Ras

I didn't like the work before I heard *A. Pappano with Mario Brunello *- just terrific. It's the only recording I listen to even though I also have Queyras on H.M. and Yo-Yo Ma with Lorin Maazel and the BPO on Sony.

There is also a beautiful piece *"Silent Woods"* from opus 68 which Ma plays on the Sony recording I mentioned.


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## larold

I listened to it as a young collector and enjoyed Rostopovich with Karajan but it fell out of favor with me. When I voted in the Gramophone poll of the top 100 recordings of the 20th century it was the only one I voted for that made the list.

Today I much prefer the Haydn concertos, Victor Herbert's Concerto No. 2, Beethoven's Triple Concerto & Offenbach's "Military" Concerto to the Dvorak. This isn't commentary on the quality of the Dvorak, just the rotation of my preference.


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## RockyIII

I like the 2014 recording by Alisa Weilerstein with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Rocky


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## wkasimer

For anyone who loves this work - and for those that don't - this is a terrific podcast:

https://stickynotespodcast.libsyn.com/dvorak-cello-concerto

The podcaster, Joshua Weilerstein, is Alisa Weilerstein's brother, and I assume that he's using her recording for musical illustration.


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## amfortas

Had to take a look; I've got Fournier/Szell, Rostropovich/Karajan, Du Pré/Barenboim, and Ma/Masur. Guess I'm better stocked than I thought.


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## wkasimer

amfortas said:


> Had to take a look; I've got Fournier/Szell, Rostropovich/Karajan, Du Pré/Barenboim, and Ma/Masur. Guess I'm better stocked than I thought.


I listened to Du Pre/Barenboim a couple of days ago, and was disappointed with it. It all sounded overwrought.


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## JosefinaHW

A complete performance on YouTube: Gautier Capuçon, Paavo Jarvi, Orchestre de Paris

Charming comment in the comment section re/ Capuçon:

    
 Andy Oppel  2 years ago

Last night I heard Gautier Capuçon masterfully perform the Dvořák Cello Concerto with the Prague Philharmonia in San Francisco. After intermission, the orchestra returned to perform Dvořák's Symphony No. 8, and in the middle of the cello section, there was Gautier Capuçon, playing along with the rest of the section as if he was just a regular member of the orchestra. Quite a pleasant surprise.﻿


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## Guest

just simply the best cello concerto of the romantic era; very exciting, dynamic, full of marvelous moments; it is owned by rostropovich-karajan; other great versions IMHO are with Isserlis, Du Pré, Mork, Weilerstein, Queyras; it will stand the test of time, forever


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## Guest

i think the rotation of your preference is heading in the wrong direction; you have identified a masterpiece by dvorak, so you need to identify more recent cello masterpieces; there are many; more than hundred according to my blogspot


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## geralmar

For those for whom such things matter, the DG Fournier/Szell was planned as Rostropovich/Szell; but a scheduling problem forced the Fournier substitution.


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## wkasimer

geralmar said:


> For those for whom such things matter, the DG Fournier/Szell was planned as Rostropovich/Szell; but a scheduling problem forced the Fournier substitution.


There are live broadcasts of Rostropovich and Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.


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## Olias

Alisa Weilerstein/Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is my personal favorite. The links in the music to Dvorak's sister-in-law's illness and death are extremely moving and lift the work into to the sublime category.


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## ccar

Fortunately, there are some musicians/interpreters that develop a character that we may recognize as more individual or even unexpected. Obviously, this is usually a common characteristic of any great musical talent but sometimes we are surprised by those that took it a bit further and many times were even criticized by their peculiar interpretation "freedom" - we may just remember a few like Cortot and Horowitz, Mengelberg and Stokowski or Hubermann and Gitlis.

Danil Shafran may be one of these outsiders, for years an almost unknown name overshadowed by the Great Rostropovich. But Shafran was never afraid of discovering his own reading of a musical piece and some of his interpretations may reveal an individual genius, with such a unique cello voice and musical phrasing that even Rostropovich had some difficulty to acknowledge. Shafran was never a protégé of the Soviet regime and unfortunately most of his recordings are difficult to get and have poor sound. He left at least 3 recordings of the Dvorak concerto, one live at the Moscow Conservatory in 1980, with the young Mariss Jansons conducting.


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## Joachim Raff

1st Choice:








2nd Choice:








For a more modern recording my choice would be:

Alisa Weilerstein (cello)
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Jiří Bělohlávek
Catalogue No: 4785705
Label: Decca


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## Allegro Con Brio

This is one of my three "holy grails" of concerti, along with the Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto and the Sibelius (or possibly Brahms) violin concerto. I didn't get it through my first several listens, but the Fournier/Szell recording made it click for me, even though that one is no longer my favorite. It's one of the few concerti that have an equal role for the soloist and orchestra, and I appreciate that. I also find the ending to be one of the greatest in all classical music. Now my favorite (of the admittedly few that I've heard) is Du Pre/Barenboim. Call it syrupy romantic fare, but it's just so opulently expressive that I can't resist it.


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## Merl

Weilerstein and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is a great one but I have a big soft spot for this one, that's not as widely known.


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## Flossner

Supposedly Brahms, on hearing this concerto remarked “Why on earth didn’t I know that one could write a cello concerto like this? Had I known, I would have written one long ago.”


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## WildThing

Pieter Wispelwey with Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra is one I haven't seen mentioned, but which I like a lot as well.


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## Enthusiast

Merl said:


> Weilerstein and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is a great one but I have a big soft spot for this one, that's not as widely known.
> 
> View attachment 131629


That _is _a good one - always a pleasure to listen to. Have you tried Queyras with Belohlavek? I really like it and it comes with a great Dumky.


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## larold

As a young collector I enjoyed the Rostropovich-Karajan collaboration and voted for it, among others, in Gramophone magazine's poll of the top 100 recordings of the 20th century. It was the only one I voted for that made their list.


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## Merl

Enthusiast said:


> That _is _a good one - always a pleasure to listen to. Have you tried Queyras with Belohlavek? I really like it and it comes with a great Dumky.


Yeah I have that too and it's a cracker.


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## DavidA

As a young collector (going back about 55 years) I bought the Rostropovich / Talich LP for around 10 shillings (50p today). Sound of course is quite wooden but the performance was terrific.


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## Hermastersvoice

Dvorak is indeed a prodigious composer, in terms of versatility he is probably the only one to compete with Mozart. The cello concerto is of course a favorite piece. In my view, a bit of muscle is needed to keep it together. Rostropovich displays that in his first two outings, with Talich and Boult. The cello concerto is only the gateway to the amazing oeuvre of Dvorak, a composer who seemed incapable of writing anything but really strong, tuneful music; the symphonies (all of them, but in particular 5th-9th), 11 wonderful operas, string quartets to rival the best, tone poems, fabulous choral music, piano trios, violin and piano concerto. Why Dvorak is not spoken of in the same breath as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven is beyond me.


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## Allegro Con Brio

Hermastersvoice said:


> Dvorak is indeed a prodigious composer, in terms of versatility he is probably the only one to compete with Mozart. The cello concerto is of course a favorite piece. In my view, a bit of muscle is needed to keep it together. Rostropovich displays that in his first two outings, with Talich and Boult. The cello concerto is only the gateway to the amazing oeuvre of Dvorak, a composer who seemed incapable of writing anything but really strong, tuneful music; the symphonies (all of them, but in particular 5th-9th), 11 wonderful operas, string quartets to rival the best, tone poems, fabulous choral music, piano trios, violin and piano concerto. Why Dvorak is not spoken of in the same breath as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven is beyond me.


Totally in agreement here. One of my top-10 composers for sure. For me he wrote 8 outstanding masterpieces of Romantic music - this concerto, the Violin Concerto, the Requiem, Stabat Mater, Symphonies 7-9, and the 2nd Piano Quintet. And the string quartets and quintets, piano trios, the rest of the symphonies and orchestral works, are uniformly golden and among my favorite works as well.


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## Hermastersvoice

Allegro Con Brio said:


> And the string quartets and quintets, piano trios, the rest of the symphonies and orchestral works, are uniformly golden and among my favorite works as well.


And the operas Trio Con Brio. If Dimitrij, Rusalka and Armida are his Da Ponte operas, The Devil and Kate is his Zauberflöte. Nothing less.


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## Allegro Con Brio

Hermastersvoice said:


> And the operas Trio Con Brio. If Dimitrij, Rusalka and Armida are his Da Ponte operas, The Devil and Kate is his Zauberflöte. Nothing less.


Seems like his operas tend to get less exposure, but I'm sure they're fantastic. I will be diving in soon!


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## vincula

Many lovely versions of this memorable concerto have already been quoted. Rostropovich/Sir Adrian Boult/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's rendition from 1958 deserves an audition too:






Regards,

Vincula


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## Animal the Drummer

Love the piece and always have. I also love Elgar but definitely prefer Dvorak's cello concerto to Elgar's. My first acquaintance with it was formed through Casals' recording with Szell, but my favourite versions now are Fournier/Szell and one which hasn't been mentioned so far, Raphael Wallfisch on Chandos with Mackerras conducting the accompaniment quite superbly.


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## consuono

I've heard several; the only one I personally have is Fournier-Szell. It's enough.


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## wkasimer

vincula said:


> Many lovely versions of this memorable concerto have already been quoted. Rostropovich/Sir Adrian Boult/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's rendition from 1958 deserves an audition too:


This one has a special place in my heart - it was the first LP I ever bought, when I was about 12 years old:


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## Gray Bean

If I had to choose between Elgar and Dvorak, I wouldn’t!
Dvorak: Rostropovich/Karajan, Piatagorski/Munch, DuPre/Barenboim, and anyone with the Czech Philharmonic for the orchestral sound.


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## wkasimer

Gray Bean said:


> If I had to choose between Elgar and Dvorak, I wouldn't!
> Dvorak: Rostropovich/Karajan, Piatagorski/Munch, DuPre/Barenboim, and anyone with the Czech Philharmonic for the orchestral sound.


No shortage of options there - Casals/Szell, Rostropovich/Talich, and more recently Weilerstein/Belohlavek (not to mention several others) are with the Czech PO. But don't neglect this one, every bit as good:









And if you want that sort of idiomatic playing, try Fukacova and Belohlavek with the Prague SO:


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## Gray Bean

Don’t know those two. Thanks! I’ll look for them.


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## vincula

DavidA said:


> As a young collector (going back about 55 years) I bought the Rostropovich / Talich LP for around 10 shillings (50p today). Sound of course is quite wooden but the performance was terrific.


I've just ordered a Supraphon album with Talich/Rostropovich/Czech Phil cello concerto and Talich/František/Czech Phi piano co.

This one:

https://www.amazon.com/Talich-Special-5-Dvořák-Concertos/dp/B07DKGC66D

I think it's a great coupling. Looking forward to opening the mail box 

Regards,

Vincula


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## Ethereality

The Weilerstein and Sadlo recordings I heard seem like jokes compared to something like du Pre? Perhaps I'm hearing something different than you are.

Listen to this level of instrumentation


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## Eclectic Al

I have Wallfisch with MacKerras. Am I right in recalling the MacKerras was a bit of a specialist in Czech music? I have always found this to be a really enjoyable recording. The coupling is an unusual one, an almost-concerto by Dohnanyi.

I also have Schiff with Marriner, which I inherited from my mother, and I'm not sure I've ever listened to it. Worth a spin?


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## Animal the Drummer

I have the Wallfisch/Mackerras recording too and love it. Wallfisch's handling of the solo part combines aplomb and purity of tone in a remarkable way, and Mackerras (who was indeed a Czech specialist - his heritage was partly Czech Jewish, like mine as it happens) accompanies him beautifully.

I don't know the Schiff recording. As a general rule I've tended to prefer his conducting to his work as a soloist, but it has to be worth a listen.


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## wkasimer

Eclectic Al said:


> I also have Schiff with Marriner, which I inherited from my mother, and I'm not sure I've ever listened to it. Worth a spin?


I'm not aware of a Schiff recording of the Dvorak with Marriner. He recorded it with both Colin Davis and Andre Previn, though. Much as I admire Schiff elsewhere, I don't think that either recording is competitive in a very crowded discography.


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## Eclectic Al

wkasimer said:


> I'm not aware of a Schiff recording of the Dvorak with Marriner. He recorded it with both Colin Davis and Andre Previn, though. Much as I admire Schiff elsewhere, I don't think that either recording is competitive in a very crowded discography.


It's a Philips CD coupled with the Elgar. The Dvorak is with the Concertgebouw and the Elgar is with the Staatskapelle Dresden.
I just listened to the Schiff Dvorak, and I think I prefer the Wallfisch/MacKerras performance.


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## wkasimer

Eclectic Al said:


> It's a Philips CD coupled with the Elgar. The Dvorak is with the Concertgebouw and the Elgar is with the Staatskapelle Dresden.


If I'm not mistaken, the Elgar is conducted by Marriner, the Dvorak by Colin Davis.


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## aioriacont

one of the best pieces ever. Still blows me away after years listening to it.


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## Eclectic Al

wkasimer said:


> If I'm not mistaken, the Elgar is conducted by Marriner, the Dvorak by Colin Davis.


Ah, you're right. My bad. The thing is the CD is in the loft (I think), and my FLAC version is not great on the tags. Looking on the web poor old Sir Colin seems to be losing out in prominence to Sir Neville.
Anyway, I preferred Wallfisch and MacKerras.


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## DavidA

Of course there have been some marvellous recordings made over the years since Casals / Szell

The best I have found is Rostropovich / Karajan although the same cellist gave a wonderful earlier mono account with Tallich


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## UniversalTuringMachine

DavidA said:


> Of course there have been some marvellous recordings made over the years since Casals / Szell
> 
> The best I have found is Rostropovich / Karajan although the same cellist gave a wonderful earlier mono account with Tallich


Yes the Rostropovich/Karajan has been a favorite of mine (and many others) for a long time, but this gorgeous masterpiece just sound amazing no matter who is playing it, most of the time.


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## vincula

DavidA said:


> Of course there have been some marvellous recordings made over the years since Casals / Szell
> 
> The best I have found is Rostropovich / Karajan although the same cellist gave a wonderful earlier mono account with Tallich


I've got both albums. I've been enjoying Rostropovich/Talich enormously. I think it's a must-have album. Supraphon has done a great work with the master. In passing, it's been reissued on vinyl as well.

Regards,

Vincula


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## Enthusiast

It is one of those works that it is worth having a number of recordings of. There are so many accounts that are wonderful and very different from each other. It responds well to highly emotional readings (like duPre's), much cooler approaches (Queyras?), magisterial (Rostropovich) and many other approaches. I could never have a favourite recording of such a work!


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## Russell Chee

DavidA said:


> Of course there have been some marvellous recordings made over the years since Casals / Szell
> 
> The best I have found is Rostropovich / Karajan although the same cellist gave a wonderful earlier mono account with Tallich


Feuermann actually produces something really approaching Rostropovich's beauty of tone in his live recordings (i think the one with Barzin was already mentioned, and there's another with the Chicago Symphony and Hans Lange) but with a much tauter approach. Can't dispute that Slava/Karajan is a winning combination, though. But I've never understood why people put du Pré in the same league - her interpretation is so choppy and rough. Passion, I suppose ? But I feel Casals and Rostropovich are incredibly emotional in their own ways as well.


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## Enthusiast

^ Yes, it is loved (and hated) for its extreme passion.


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## wkasimer

Hurwitz opines about the Dvorak concerto:


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## Brahmsianhorn

I was never that into the Rosty/Herbie either. Not focused enough. I guess I’ll seek out the Ozawa for grins.

Feuermann/Barzin is my favorite


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## wkasimer

Brahmsianhorn said:


> I was never that into the Rosty/Herbie either. Not focused enough. I guess I'll seek out the Ozawa for grins.


I agree with Hurwitz about Rostropovich/Ozawa, but I suspect that's in part because I was at the one of the performances around the time of the recording.



> Feuermann/Barzin is my favorite


I love this performance, and don't mind old recordings - but the Dvorak concerto really begs for reasonably modern sonics.


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