Rostropovich Encores: Alban Gerhardt, Markus Becker

For the young Alban Gerhardt, Rostropovich was ‘a reason to become passionate about the cello’: in the notes accompanying this release he recalls being ‘blown away’ on first hearing Slava play live in Berlin. This splendid follow-up to Casals Encores sees Gerhardt paying homage to his great predecessor with an eclectic programme of shorter works, including two by Rostropovich himself.

1
Humoresque Op 5[2'10]Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)
2
Adagio 'Cinderella and the Prince' Op 97bis[4'53]Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953)
3
Presto  (No 1 of Suite, Op 10)[1'59]Christian Sinding (1856-1941)
4
Oriental dance Op 2 No 2[6'44]Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Pas de deux from Divertimento[6'59]Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), arr. Samuel Dushkin (1891-1976) & Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)
5
Adagio[3'50]
6
Variation and Coda[3'09]
7
March  (Movement from The love of three oranges)[1'45]Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953), arr. Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)
8
Vocalise  (No 14 of 14 Songs, Op 34)[6'24]Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
9
Clair de lune  (Movement 3 of Suite bergamasque, L82)[5'05]Claude Debussy (1862-1918), arr. Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)
Douze études Op 8Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915), arr. Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976)
10
No 11 in B flat minor: Andante cantabile[4'14]
11
Waltz-Coda  (Movement from Cinderella)[2'52]Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953), arr. Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)
12
Russian maiden's song  (Movement from Mavra)[3'40]Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), arr. Dimitry Markevitch (1923-2002)
13
Elfentanz Op 39[2'35]David Popper (1843-1913)
14
Nocturne et scherzo L39[5'24]Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Études Op 25Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), arr. Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936)
15
No 7 in C sharp minor: Lento[6'21]
16
Minstrels: Modéré  (No 12 of Préludes I, L125)[3'01]Claude Debussy (1862-1918), arr. Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)
17
Pièce en forme de habanera[3'07]Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
18
Moderato[3'05]Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)