SUPRAPHON New Release February 2011 - Gillmore Music

SUPRAPHON New Release March 2011
Russian Masters Archive Series
SU 4052-2
2 CD
Archive, live recording
First ever released!
Price MD
SUPRAPHON a.s., Palackého 1, 112 99 Praha 1, Czech Republic, www.supraphon.com
Tel: +420 221 966 609, Fax: +420 221 966 631, E-mail: info@supraphon.com
In stock: 21 st March, 2011
CZ release date: 25 th March, 2011
UPC Code:
Recorded live at the concert of the 15th
Prague Spring International Music Festival
at the Rudolfinum, June 2, 1960
Total time: 82:46
Beethoven / String Trios
Leonid Kogan – violin, Rudolf Barshai – viola, Mstislav Rostropovich – cello
This CD, the latest title within the acclaimed Russian Masters series, presents three towering Russian
musicians. At a superb 1960 Prague Spring festival concert, Kogan, Barshai and Rostropovich performed
together three of Beethoven’s four string trios. These pieces are seldom played in combination since they
require from the musicians a rare combination of virtuosity and humility, as well as mutual respect
between the chamber players. There is no doubt as to the sheer virtuosity of these musicians; at their
previous concerts at that year’s Prague Spring all three of them had presented themselves as superlative
soloists (at the festival, Rostropovich also performed in Czech premiere Shostakovich’s first cello
concerto). Leonid Kogan – one of the most distinguished representatives of the Russian violin school; the
violist Rudolf Barshai – co-founder of the celebrated Borodin Quartet and later on a renowned conductor;
Mstislav Rostropovich – simply a phenomenal cellist... Three soloists whose encounter on a single stage
was a veritable feast for chamber-music lovers and one of the apices of the Prague Spring. Now, half a
century later, you too can savour this remarkable concert.
Three legends on one stage – a precious encounter you can again enjoy, half a century on!
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
CD 1
String Trio in G major Op. 9 No. 1 / 1797-98 24:45
1/ I. Adagio – allegro con brio 9:05
2/ II. Adagio, ma non tanto, e cantabile 7:18
3/ III. Scherzo. Allegro 2:36
4/ IV. Presto 5:26