Rostropovich was a master on the cello. His phrasing, his sense of line, finding the "point" of the Sonata, towards which everything else presages, is stunning. I have an LP recording of him playing this sonata with the great Benjamin Britten on piano: it was on London Records, and is now out-of-print. I haven't seen it appear on CD. Talk about a transcendent experience. IMHO, the Sonata is Bridge's masterpiece, and Rostropovich gives it the performance a masterpiece deserves.

I continue to return to this live performance recording. It is mesmerizing.

Überzeugende live Aufführung dieses spätromantischen Meisterwerks im inspirierenden Tempo mit seidigen Töne des Cellos und klaren Töne des Klaviers. Die intime und perfekt synchronisierte Mitwirkung zwischen den beiden Virtuosen ist immer noch unvergleichlich. Echt Gänsehaut!

I: immediate opening II: 8:57 III: 13:53

Thanks for sharing!!

Cette sonate est un pur chef d'oeuvre de la Musique ! À écouter aussi la version avec B.Britten chez Decca...

I heard this recording somewhere else without the ending. I think I see why...

Despite the total bollocks-ing up of the coda, still a fabulous performance of an absolute masterpiece.

I miss Britten's incredible colouring at the piano but slava is an ethereal being.

I'm really glad I heard this wonderful piece. Just noticed that the pianist completely loses it in the final coda section. Cellist came in early a few times and was not listening at all. Rostropovich - one of the greatest players of all time. Still I have to say not really playing 'an equal music'.

Really lovely! (The coda was slightly hard to listen to though)

Given that Dedukhin loses the plot quite suddenly at a page turn (couple of minutes before the end) I think we can assume the score fell to bits as the page was being turned over, or some similar disaster - or even that somehow two pages just weren't there. Stuff happens! It's still a wonderful document.

No easy approach to this kind of music. Listened the sonata more then 8 times the last 3 weeks. Still unwieldy in my ears.