He took the stage of Toronto's sparkling new Roy Thompson Hall like a bull charge in a matador. Plunking himself down abruptly on his chair, Mstislav Rostropovich, fifty-nine, began to play. Even as the fiery Russian performer ripped the first note from his cello, it was clear why many consider him the greatest living master of that instrument.
The sound that emerged was one of surpassing loveliness and overwhelming dramatic intensity. Sometimes ferocious, sometimes sublime, his playing covers a wide range of emotions. Rostropovich, who is also music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., is a man in complete control of his métier. He and his accompanist, pianist Lambert Orkis, held the audience virtually spellbound. Rostropovich is not just another virtuoso; he is a marker of great music.
The recital began with Brahm's Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99. The opening movement is distinguished by its breathtaking chord changes, exquisite melodies, and dramatic double-stops. It was well suited to Rostropovich's preference for the passionate. The slow movement showed him in a different mood. Instead of flying fingers, it was long notes and lots of vibrato.
As is his habit, Rostropovich performed one of the unaccompanied cello suites by J.S. Bach. In this case, he chose the Suite No. 5 in C Minor.
Of course, not everyone approves of Rostropovich's approach to Bach. The sheer passion he brings to his playing tends to put the purists off. They regard the Suites as masterly exercises in instrumental polyphony. Rostropovich doesn't. His interpretation of the fifth Suite was more a celebration of tone and texture than line.
Those who disagree with the way he handles Bach could point to Rostropovich's extensive use of big tonal contrasts and almost demoniacal attack on the low strings as evidence of over-dramatization. (For those who keep track of such things, Rostropovich broke the first bow hair of the night during the Suite.)
There is an element of truth to the charge. Rostropovich is a man who plays with his heart, not his head. As conductor Seiji Ozawa once put it, "Mstislav doesn't interpret, he feels." He is incapable of the coolness and objectivity some feel Bach demands. On the other hand, what energy and electricity Rostopovich brings to Bach! And no matter how subjective he becomes, he never falters in his accuracy. Technically, his rendering of Bach was flawless.
The somewhat unlikely encounter between Rostropovich and Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano turned out a happy one. This strongly rhythmic piece displayed the rapport and precision ensemble that exists between Rostropovich and pianist Orkin.
The highlight of the evening, however, was clearly Dmitri Shostakovich's Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40. An exciting and demanding work, it gave Rostropovich a chance to pull out all the stops. The standing ovation and two encores that followed made it clear that the audience liked what it heard.
The scenario has been repeated many times since the mid-1950s, when Rostropovich first came to prominence in the West. He
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