I suspect that collectors familiar with Mstislav Rostropovich’s 1991 CD/DVD studio recordings of Bach solo cello suites will be curious about this newly uncovered live cycle from the 1955 Prague Spring Festival. Compared to EMI’s smooth, refined sonics, the Czech radio engineering conveys a closer, rawer-toned, yet attractively full-bodied perspective, albeit with palpable venue resonance. Part of this may have to do with the fact that the 1991 recordings feature the cellist’s celebrated 1711 Duport Stradivarius, an altogether more responsive instrument than what he played on in 1955.
However, it appears that the 28-year-old cellist was a more emotive Bach interpreter than his older self, employing more dynamic hairpins, heavier, more legato-oriented articulation, generally slower tempos, and a stronger emphasis on singing than dancing. The gigues are a good example of this; compare, for instance, the more inflected 1955 C minor movement with the later version’s sharper rhythmic pointing that nevertheless maintains consistent tonal sheen. The preludes also bear out this observation, while the 1955 C major Allemande sounds comparably stiffer than its faster, more fluid counterpart. Yet you can persuasively argue that the cellist’s more incisive accentuation better enlivens the earlier courantes.
The bottom line is that Rostropovich’s supreme technical command and communicative authority were firmly established at a young age, and are all the more impressive when you consider that these most likely are live, unedited transmissions. Supraphon’s annotations discuss the performances in context of the cellist’s career. Unlike many archival releases flooding the market, this one contains genuine historic and musical value.
