Dutilleux: Cello Concerto, Lutoslawski: Cello Concerto [Original recording remastered]

Henri Dutilleux (Artist), Witold Lutoslawski (Artist), Mstislav Rostropovich (Artist), Orchestre de Paris (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 17, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00006I0CJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,951 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Late 20th Century Master Works, October 30, 2003

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dutilleux: Cello Concerto, Lutoslawski: Cello Concerto (Audio CD)

This title in EMI's Great Recordings of the Century series features two late 20th Century master works for cello and orchestra, performed by one of the great cellists of the late 20th Century, Mstislav Rostropovich. This is a mid-line reissue of what was originally a full-price CD (strangely still available) featuring the Cello Concertos of Dutilleux and Lutoslawski, conducted by Serge Baudo and Witold Lutoslawski himself, both leading the Orchestre de Paris. Both Concertos were completed and premiered in 1970, recorded here in 1974 and written specifically for Rostropovich. These are without a doubt the definitive performances of these works, and while they will prove hard to listen to for some, will be thoroughly enjoyable to those willing to give themselves over to this powerful music.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rating applies to Dutilleux, June 9, 2005

By 

Richard Zencker (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dutilleux: Cello Concerto, Lutoslawski: Cello Concerto (Audio CD)

This seems far and away the finest recording we will ever have of the Dutilleux. I have been gratified in recent years to hear other performances of this composer's works, but in this case the it seems like the dedicatee can never be surpassed. Truly one of the summits of Rostropovich's recorded output, and one of the finest works of the 20th century to boot.

In contrast, the Lutoslawski receives a comitted reading, but the work does not compare to the Dutilleux. I can imagine buying this recording for the Lutoslawski alone, it is that good. But the Dutilleux work is the one I return to more often.

For those that are unfamiliar with the composer, I will only mention that Dutilleux seems one of those rare 20th century composers whose music deserves the appellation "beautiful."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent concertos, fine performance, but the recording quality makes the disc less competitive, July 2, 2011

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dutilleux: Cello Concerto, Lutoslawski: Cello Concerto (Audio CD)

This EMI disc pairs two cello concertos written for Mstislav Rostropovich in the late '60s. Rostropovich performs with the Orchestre de Paris, with Serge Baudo conducting the Dutilleux and the composer himself conducting the Lutoslawski. These are major works, and anyone with an interest in 20th century music would do well to hear them, but see below.

Henri Dutilleux's "Tout un monde lontain..." (1969) is cast in five thematically interlocked movements: "Enigme", "Regard", "Houle", "Miroirs" and "Hymne". This work is an excellent example of Dutilleux's distinct style: transparent orchestration that nonetheless maintains a paradoxical sense of mystery, the continual reappearance in different guises of a basic chord or theme, and well-placed orchestral tuttis. The soloist is not led through many extended techniques, but the part is nonetheless challenging and there is a constant shift between arco and pizzicato. Dutilleux is a composer who's readily accessible but whose music contains enough enigmas that the listener will continually discover new things in it for years to come.

I'm not very happy with the recording, though. The cellist is way too prominent, while the remainder of the orchestra sounds like it's packed together into an elevator.

Witold Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto (1968-1970) is one of the Polish composer's few concertante works and, like most pieces from this era, it employs limited aleatorism: the pitches are clearly defined, but an element of chance is provided by a large series of "ad libitum" sections which are unconducted. In spite of the composer's insistence that the concerto contains no hidden narrative, nearly every listener perceives a battle between the individual, represented by the soloist, and authoritarianism, represented by the orchestra. The concerto opens with the cellist playing a repeated D marked "indifferente". Occasionally he pauses to muse over some topic, resulting in complicated bowing, before returning to the repeated D. The cello's course, however, is eventually interrupted by the entrance of the brass: repeated trumpet blasts arise as odious as a police roadblock. The cellist perceives the orchestra and tries to engage in dialogue (with some sympathetic reactions from the strings), but the brass constantly interrupts. There's an arc vaguely like Schnittke's first cello concerto, where the soloist dies only to be resurrected, but since the harmonies and aleatoric interplay are distinctly Lutoslawskian, the result is quite different.

As great as Rostropovich is, he's not unparalleled in these performances. And because of the disappointing recording quality, it might be better to first encounter these pieces on a BIS disc with Christian Poltera playing these same pieces, plus solo cello works by Dutilleux and Lutoslawski, while fans can approach this EMI release as a historical document.