Daniil Shafran: More Cello Masterworks

amuletts — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 01:09:29 +0000

Parnassus presents legendary recordings of cello masterworks from one of the greatest cellists of the early 20th Century, Daniil Borisovich Shafran. It was a quirk of fate that the Soviet Union should have produced, within the space of four years, two of the greatest cellists of the age, Mstislav Rostropovich and Daniil Borisovich Shafran. It was a particular misfortune for Shafran that Rostropovich should have been so visible a musician, culturally and politically, as Shafran was largely overlooked. These recordings look to shine a spotlight on this great artist in full remasterings by Paul Arden-Taylor.

Shafran was born on 13 January 1923 in St Petersburg, then Petrograd/Leningrad, where his father, Boris, was principal cellist in the Leningrad Philharmonic. Studies with his father were followed by lessons with Aleksander Shtrimer (who had also taught Shafran’s father), first at the Special Music School, and then at the conservatoire two years later. Shafran made his concerto debut with the Philharmonic at the age of eleven, performing Tchaikovsky’s ‘Rococo’ Variations conducted by Albert Coates and three years later, in 1937, the same year that he won the All-Union Competition, he recorded the work with Alexander Gauk. His competition prize was a 1630 Amati cello (reputedly), slightly on the small side, that he used for the rest of his life. After his death, it turned out that it was, in fact, probably eighteenth-century German or Bohemian.

(Stephen Isserlis): “Sebastian Comberti had the best description …like finding the last member of a lost tribe of cellists. His playing takes you right back to a different era.”

“Comparisons in the Prokofiev are especially telling, Rostropovich is earnest but suave, Shafran more colourful but unremittingly intense. Rozhdestvensky’s mastery of the score is a bonus: this was the period when he made his greatest Prokofiev recordings” (Tsindzadze):

“every bar holds its own brand of magic.” (Gramophone)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Variations on a Rococo Theme (18:41)

David Popper
Spanish Dances, Op. 54

No. 5, Vito (3:58)

Concert Etudes, Op. 55

No. 2, Jagdstück (2:20)

Camille Saint-Saëns

Carnival of the Animals: The Swan (2:47)

Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony-Concerto in E Minor, Op. 125

I. Andante (9:39)
II. Allegro giusto (16:26)
III. Andante con moto (9:12)

Shostakovich: Symphonies No.9 & No.15 Festive Overture; Scherzo Op.1

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:45:31 +0000

“(9th) They capture not only the joyful irreverence but the sense of danger lurking beneath … solo wind playing is excellent throughout…brilliantly played and vividly recorded” (CD Review) (15th) “with a superbly vivid Fifteenth, generally hard-driven à la Mravinsky but far more convincingly poised … first movement goes at a frightening lick, deserting the toy shop for the asylum, the slow movement lacks only the very last ounce of desolation and the finale, always intelligently conceived, is suitably emotive at the close. The sound has immediacy and enough depth.” (Gramophone)

[1] Festive Overture, Op.96 *** 6:01
[2] Scherzo for Orchestra in F sharp minor, Op.1 *** 5:01

Symphony No.9 in E-flat major * [26:28]

[3] I. Allegro 5:27
[4] II. Moderato 7:13
[5] III. Presto 2:53
[6] IV. Largo 4:14
[7] V. Allegretto – Allegro 6:40

Symphony No.15 in A major, Op.141 (1971) ** [40:25]

[8] I. Allegretto 7:06
[9] II. Adagio – Largo – Adagio – Largo 13:52
[10] III. Allegretto 4:15
[11] IV. Adagio – Allegretto – Adagio – Allegretto 15:10

Gennady Rozhdestvensky – Alto CD

Daniil Shafran: More Cello Masterworks

Shostakovich: Symphonies No.9 & No.15 Festive Overture; Scherzo Op.1