Mstislav Rostropovich

'Rostropovich breathes this music as if it were oxygen ... he brings it chillingly to life'
BBC 3 CD Radio Review

*****
The Independent

'In this towering performance by the LSO under the composer's friend and colleague Mstislav Rostropovich ... Shostakovich comes across as a thoroughgoing modernist, agonised about the issues of the day, but pouring his angst into a huge, multifaceted work which flows with the heat of volcanic lava. One of the last remaining links with this titanic composer, the great cellist-conductor can lay rightful claim to being his outstanding living interpreter.'
The Observer

'This is the sort of thing at which Rostropovich excels; the frozen wastes, the seas of desolation that cover this carefully proportioned symphony have never been more atmospherically charted.'
BBC Music Magazine

'his strength is in his ability to inspire players. There's nothing routine about this performance: Rostropovich generates a fierce intensity ... The LSO's response is consitantly impressive.'
Classic FM Magazine

***** 'Rostropovich captures the stark ambivalence of the music - its gut-wrenching menace on the one hand, and stark attractiveness on the other. The playing is top-notch, and quite terrifying at all the right moments' The Scotsman