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Cello Concerto No. 1, for solo cello, 17 wind instruments, percussion, and harmonium, Op. 23 (1963) Dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich Members of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor - Igor Blazhkov Cello - Mstislav Rostropovich “The Cello Concerto was first performed by the soloist on this record, a certain Mstislav Rostropovich. How many young composers have such a chance? The accompanying ensemble is an unorthodox one, and, strangely, though the translation problems render the sentence ambiguous once again, the notes suggest that Shostakovich, of all people, transcribed the work for orchestra in 1969. Laurel Fay’s biography of Shostakovich (OUP, 2000) seems to support this strange assertion – why would Shostakovich do this? When on earth would he have time? – as does Shostakovich himself in Solomon Volkov’s disputed Testimony. The work itself, however, seems significantly less inspired than the earlier one. In one extended movement, it opens once again with the sol
