Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto, written in 1959 during a tumultuous time in the composer's life, is filled with sarcasm, aggression, and, at times, haunting beauty. Written for and premiered by
Mstislav Rostropovich, few artists have managed to capture the sheer emotional impact that "Slava" was able to deliver. Cellist
Kim Cook and the
Volgograd Symphony Orchestra under
Edward Serov fall considerably below the bar set by
Rostropovich. From a technical perspective,
Cook has occasional problems with intonation (particularly in the exhausting end of the fourth movement) and can be heard sliding into notes far too often (especially in the lush second movement, where such portamento playing dulls the expressivity of the movement). Musically,
Cook's playing is decidedly safe, with limited contrasts between characters and an absent sense of really digging into the strings and letting it fly. By far the weakest aspect of the recording, however, is the orchestral accompaniment. The
Volgograd Symphony comes across seeming quite amateurish, with sloppy, out-of-tune playing in the winds.
The disc continues with Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme. The orchestra seems more comfortable with this score, though its playing is far from flawless.
Cook's playing, however, remains quite guarded and cautious rather than the ebullient and effervescent character that this piece demands.