Mischa Maisky, London Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas - Shostakovich: Cello Concertos (1995)

Anticipating the ultimate judgements of posterity can be a risky business, and yet in the case of Shostakovich concertos I'll risk putting my neck on the line by proclaiming the First Violin Concerto greater than the Second, and the Second Cello Concerto greater than the First. In fact, I'd say that Op. 126 is one of the major concertos of the post-war period—as potent a representative of the composer's later style as the last three symphonies, be it through irony (second movement), poetry (first and third) or anger (beginning of the third or the sudden, fff eruption 10'16'' in). Few cellists have tended the p espressivo of the Largo's opening bars as lovingly as Mischa Maisky does on this notable new recording, while the rapt quality of his soft playing (try 6'18'' into the same movement) and the expressive eloquence of his double-stopping (say, at 11'57'') wring the most from Shostakovich's extended soliloquy.
As to the conducting, Michael Tilson Thomas points and articulates with his usual skill; at 6'45'' into the first movement, for example, where the woodwind and xylophone recall the caustic wit of Prokofiev, or 2'08'' into the second Allegretto, a tender, lilting 6/8 with cello accompanying flute. Only the opening of that movement (with its furious whoop horns) seems to me marginally under-projected, although the main climax later on (10'16'') is both immensely powerful and extraordinarily clear. Note, too, how Maisky and his colleagues handle that equivocal closing sequence (from 15'01''), with its pulsing bass line and shufflings percussion.
The First Concerto harbours fewer mysteries than the Second and yet remains a pivotal work one that Maisky in particular seems to relish. Still I wasn't entirely convinced by his bouncing bow at the end of the cadenza (from 5'26''), where demisemiquaver phrases are deprived of their full notational value. Also, a brief sequence of off-bow noises in the first movement (at least I'm presuming that is what they are at 4'33'') sounds distractingly like castanets. Maisky himself phrases beautifully, while Tilson Thomas and the LSO again come up trumps, even though 1'33'' into the finale the dramatic switch to 6/8 sounds less spontaneous than it does under, say, Maxim Shostakovich. In other respects, however, this is a forceful and fairly outgoing interpretation, beautifully recorded and a suitable coupling for the disc's star act the finest available studio recording of the Second Concerto. In fact, I'd now rate this CD as the prime recommendation for the two concertos coupled together.