Search - Mstislav Rostropovich, London Symphony Orchestra :: Andrzej Panufnik: Cello Concerto - Mstislav Rostropovich

Panufnik's valedictory statement, written for Rostropovich.

Discophage | France | 07/27/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The cello concerto is Panufnik's last composition. It was written for Rostropovich, while the composer was already extremely ill, and was premiered by Rostropovich and the London Symphony under Hugh Wolff on 24th June 1992, 8 months after Panufnik's death. This recording was made the day after and bears, therefore, unique authority.



It is typical of Panufnik's style, relying on simple expressive and architectural devices (with two movements, slow and brooding, then fast and agitated) and yes, despite the denial of the disc's annotator, Bernard Jacobson, it sound valedictory, especially in its longing, broodingly tormented first movement, and in the enigmatic and questioning second movement cadenza (Jacobson contends that Panufnik had such a penchant for asking the ultimate questions in all his works). It is effective, if breaking no new grounds.



But beware: this was issued on one of these NMC CDs which, in the 1990s, made a strange specialty of issuing short, one-work programs. The TT on this one is 19-minutes. So try and find it priced accordingly. And a post-script from July 2010: it's recently been reissued and you can find it cheap under Panufnik Cello Concerto."