Rostropovich gave the first performances of both these concertos, and his playing of them has that unmistakable blend of intensity and spontaneity, all the more imposing in recordings that place him very much in the foreground. As far as the Lutoslawski is concerned, comparison with Heinrich Schiff on Philips is fascinating, and the only sensible conclusion is that the two performances are complementary. Rostropovich is so firmly in command that some of the work's drama—the sense of a contest with the orchestra—is lost. Schiff, with less fulsome tone, and more backwardly placed, gives a marvellously febrile account, more vulnerable, no less exciting, which is also more accurate in attention to the composer's dynamic markings.
Schiff's coupling is of lesser Lutoslawski (the Double Concerto and Dance Preludes), Rostropovich's of a long, fastidious but for me ultimately unsatisfying work, much less gripping than Dutilleux's later Violin Concerto, recently recorded by Isaac Stern for CBS. Its meditations are more languid than intense, but in Rostropovich's hands its soft-centredness is minimized, and the whole disc is another timely reminder of the great cellist's selfless advocacy of new music.'