Cello Concerto 2
Schnittke (b. 1934) has been called a "magician" for his  nearly magical evocation of this century's most advanced musical styles. As a  polystylist, he employs any mode that suits the music. He can have stretches of  atonality and harsh serialism, then launch into passages of utter tonal beauty.  This is a good disc that contains those features. The Concerto for Violoncello  and Orchestra 2 (1990) is a tense, difficult work, very demanding for the  soloist (it was written for Mstislav Rostropovich).In Memoriam(1979)  was originally a piano quintet, but Gennady Rozhdestvensky wanted it  orchestrated. It is one of Schnittke's greatest compositions.--Paul Cook