BRITTEN: Complete Works for Cello Solo [CD de audio] Alexander Ivashkin, Andrew Zolinsky and Britten

Britten's music is truly one of the most notable works of the 20th century. And for me it is a source of great and strong impressions. This set represents the first complete collection of Benjamin Britten's music for unaccompanied cello and cello with piano. Many of these works were composed for the legendary Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Britten and Rostropovich were good friends and gave recitals together in both Britain and Russia. It is perhaps because of this connection with Rostropovich that Britten's cello works in particular demonstrate his enduring affinity with Russian culture, leading a composer as renowned as Shostakovich to repeatedly express his admiration for Britten's music. The much-loved cello solo suites are an ideal vehicle for dramatic displays of virtuosity by the cellist, especially in the First Suite, but they also have beautifully expressive moments, such as the lyrical fourth movement of the Second Suite. The Russian influence in the Suites is evident through Britten's use of Shostakovich's famous DS CH monogram, and allusions, however enigmatic and subtle, to Russian folk melodies in the Third Suite. This collection also includes the Cello Sonata in C major, which, like the Suites, takes much of its inspiration from historical forms, the premiere recording of the previously unreleased Sonata in A major, a charming work that was written when the composer was only 13 years old and is influenced by Schubert, and the intriguing 'Sacher' Tema , written just a few months before Britten's death to celebrate the 70th birthday of Swiss conductor Paul Sacher and commissioned and premiered by Rostropovich. Alexander Ivashkin has been described as a prodigious cellist by Rostropovich himself, and praised by The Daily Telegraph for combining breadth of knowledge with unstoppable energy. He is accompanied in Britten's Cello Sonatas by virtuoso pianist Andrew Zolinsky.