Giants of the Cello / Pablo Casals, Mstislaw, Rostropowitch, Pierre Fournier, Jacqueline Dupre, Paul Tortelier, Gregor, Piatigorsky, Emanuel, Feuermann / Documents 10x Audio CD, Box Set / 600294

UPC 4053796002945

Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: [ˈpaw kəˈzalz i ðəfiˈʎo]; 29 December 1876 – 22 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals, was a Spanish and Puerto Rican cellist, composer, and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century and one of the greatest cellists of all time. He made many recordings throughout his career of solo, chamber, and orchestral music, including some as conductor, but he is perhaps best remembered for the recordings of the Bach Cello Suites he made from 1936 to 1939. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy (though the ceremony was presided over by Lyndon B. Johnson).

Mstislaw or Mstislavl (Belarusian: Мсціслаў, Mscisłaŭ [pronounced [msʲt͡sʲiˈsɫau̯]], Russian: Мстиславль [msʲtʲɪˈslavlʲ], Polish: Mścisław, Lithuanian: Mstislavlis) is a town in the Mogilev Region, Eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mstsislaw District. As of 2009, its population was 10,804.

Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 1927 – 27 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enlarged the cello repertoire more than any cellist before or since. He inspired and premiered over 100 pieces, forming long-standing friendships and artistic partnerships with composers including Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Henri Dutilleux, Witold Lutosławski, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Norbert Moret, Andreas Makris, Leonard Bernstein, Aram Khachaturian and Benjamin Britten.

Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 1906 – 8 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound.

Here they are, almost all of the great protagonists of this wonderful instrument, exceptional musical personalities of the 20th century bar none, gathered on this exclusive 10 CD box set — Jacqueline du Pré, Pablo Casals, Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Gregor Piatigorsky, and Emanuel Feuermann. They can be heard with highlights of their discographies from the years 1936 until 1962 some of the most important recordings of all times and a few very special sound documents, concerts and chamber musical works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Walton, Bruch, Saint-Saéns, Dvorak, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich. Exquisite associates guarantee interpretations of the highest quality, among them Rudolf Serkin, Jascha Heifetz, Arthur Rubinstein. Emil Gilels, David Oistrach, and Friedrich Gulda.