While this collection brings together all the standard tunes Mstislav Rostropovich recorded for EMI Classics, the "Russian" recordings are deservedly the headline grabbers. World premieres abound, from a searing account of Prokofiev's Cello Sonata with Sviatoslav Richter to an especially probing Shostakovich Second Cello Concerto, both given in the presence of the composers. Benjamin Britten, meanwhile, conducts his own Cello Symphony in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. At the same time, Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto is simply staggering in its virtuosity and depth of musical feeling, as is its companion piece, the concerto Tout un monde lointain by Henri Dutilleux. Both are Rostropovich commissions. There are relative rarities too, in the Richard Strauss' Cello Sonata, some "lollipops" of Popper, Scriabin and Debussy, as well as the wonderful interpretation of the Miaskovsky's Cello Concerto. And there's a lot more. As the collection continues, dedications emerge from Russian composers far and wide. Boris Tchaikovsky gets a whole disc, with a Suite and a sizeable Concerto, while there are works from Tischenko and Weinberg. Shostakovich accompanies Rostropovich in the Cello Sonata, while yet more Russian contemporary composers, namely Ustvolskaya and Schnittke, are championed through the cellist.

This is the reincarnation of the same post brought earlier by slcn. Unfortunately, it's noteworthy debut was brutally cut short by a bandit of marauding trolls. Without further ado, a big shoutout of thanks goes out to slcn and many other contributors, without whose support this would not have been possible.