All Dvorak Concert - Szell, Rostropovich

 

Well, this is really something! Conductor and soloist are at their best and the sound recording is quite vivid. One of the best - if not the best - Szell concert with the NYPO I've heard so far. Although I personally love more relaxed, rich in chiaroscuro (like Giulini & Concertgebouw on Sony) or "idiomatic" versions of the Seventh Symphony (Kubelik, Neumann and so on), Szell's imperiousness and fire are enthralling, also because the intensity of singing is certainly not sacrificed to rhythmic impetus.

In addition to the presence of Rostropovich, it is difficult to imagine a more qualified conductor for the Concerto, considering the very long attendance with this page also documented by the historic recording with Casals and the Czech Philharmonic (1937) and of course with Fournier and the Berliner Philarmoniker in 1962, both splendid and indispensable.

Antonín Dvořák 

 

Carnival Overture, Op. 92

Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70

Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104

MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH, cello

New York Philharmonic

GEORGE SZELL 

New York - November 20, 1965

FLAC