With warm musicianship and maximum sonic impact, BIS's coupling is a significant contender amongst distinguished rivals—Rostropovich, the works' dedicatee, being the strongest. Torleif Thedeen claims an impressive educational pedigree, having studied with the likes of Du Pre, Schiff, Tortelier and Pleeth. His is a firm, vibrant voice which he colours according to the dictates of the musical moment, and although both Rostropovich and Schiff are more urgently communicative, Thedeen is a responsive partnerfor James DePreist and the Malmo Symphony.
Both concertos are powerfully recorded and extremely well balanced, the Second sounding a whole host of nasty low wind sonorities (Shostakovich's employment of horns and bassoons is masterly) which producer Ingo Petry reports with considerable depth and clarity. And although James DePreist eschews the raw, hot-headed conducting styles of, say, Kondrashin and Svetlanov (for Rostropovich—see below), his more restrained exegesis works well in abetting the music's internal workings—especially in the first two movements of the First Concerto, where dialogue with the soloist is particularly active. The Second Concerto alternates deep introspection with wry humour and savage protest, the latter rising to wild-eyed ferocity halfway through the last movement. Under DePreist, Shostakovich's horns-and-drums fanfares sound as if in anticipation of some great Shakespearean monologue, whereas Svetlanov's handling of the same movement conjures up more drastic, even violent images. The concerto ends among restless percussion, reminding us of parallel passages in the equally unsettling Fourth and Fifteenth Symphonies.
A fine disc, then, excellently annotated by Ronald Weitzman and exceptionally well engineered. Had competition been less intense, it might have merited a top-flight recommendation. As it is, both Rostropovich and Schiff edge at least one step nearer the disturbing soul of this enigmatic music—but it's a significant step, one that we should feel compelled to follow.'