5大唱片

Vladimir Ashkenazy and Mats Lidström began their collaboration in London in the 1980s, during Ashkenazy`s tenure at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where Lidström was principal cellist. They have since appeared together in concert as well as on disc, including a recording of concertos by Kabalevsky and Khachaturian on BIS. They are here reunited, in front of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, in a performance of what has become a true modern classic: Dmitri Shostakovich`s Cello Concerto No. 1. The concerto was composed in 1959, during the so-called Khruschev Thaw, but even though Soviet censorship and repression had relaxed somewhat following the death of Stalin, the approval from the mighty Composer`s Union was still needed before any public performances could take place. When the concerto was performed before the Union`s committee, Vladimir Ashkenazy – then in his early twenties – was present and has recounted how nervous and uncomfortable Shostakovich appeared while observing the reactions of the committee.

The disc opens with Mats Lidström`s own Rigoletto Fantasy, based on Verdi`s opera. Inspired by virtuosic violin pieces such Sarasate`s Carmen Fantasy, and with professional experience from the orchestra pit of the Royal Swedish Opera, Lidström has selected a string of highlights from Rigoletto, including of course the Duke`s La donna è mobile and Gilda`s Caro nome, joining them together in a virtuosic, dramatic and moving narrative.