Customer Reviews

Dvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104; Max Bruch: Kol Nidrei; Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme

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There's no reason to go into a long song and dance about Starker and Dorati here--the recordings are so famous and so coveted by collectors on original vinyl, that they're bound to make a perfect CD reissue. And they do.

Starker and Dorati's LSO strings have a thing going here--they match their attacks stylistically in superb ensemble--there's just a little bit of resin, of gut, on strings that give all three works a genuinely Slavic quality that is fascinating.

I don't think any historian would really consider the Bruch a very good work, but Starker and Dorati make it the best it can be. It certainly isn't an embarassment in the company of the Dvorak and Tchaikovsky which are refreshed to the point of renewed consideration of their virtues.

There is a rival to this recording out of Berlin, with Rostropovich playing the cello and von Karajan playing the conductor. Actually, I have the Tschaikovsky part of that disc on a DG twofer that features Slava in a number of works, including the Shostakovich No.2.

But Starker and Dorati are so fine in the Dvorak -- and the Mercury recording is a marvel of clarity and body -- I've been able to pass on to other things, never feeling the need for an alternate view. This disk seems to project Dvorak's view itself, what need for another?

Janos Starker is spoken of in hushed and fervent tones in cello circles. I grew up in Bloomington, IN and was closely associated with the School of Music at Indiana University. He is certainly only one of many esteemed and legendary performers teaching at the university, but he is one with an ability to change the lives of those who study with him. Listening to him perform gives me increasing respect for this big brother of the string family. Being a bassoonist, I thought I could do anything a cellist could do (and better! except double-stops, of course) but Mr. Starker's performance on this recording made the world aware of a rising star! He was in his early 30's at the time - 36 years prior to his Grammy award winning recording of the Bach Cello Suites. (That recording is an essential 2-CD cello collection.) Only 5 years into his tenure at Indiana, you can experience first-hand one of the talents that has made the Indiana University School of Music number one in the country throughout the 80's and 90's.

Janos Starker is an amazing performer and people can listen to his passion from these music.

If Janos Starker had been a Mayor of a town I am quite certain his title would have been Mayor Sassy of Sassyville. Had he commanded a fleet of War Vessels from this town his title would have been Admiral Sassy of the Sassyville Armada. For the record, Tchaikovsky was pretty Sassy in his own right.