Live in Brussels
The duo of cellist Mischa Maisky and pianist Martha Argerich is known for the virtuoso flair they bring to their performances. This recording from a 2003 Brussels concert is no exception. The way they tear into the wild second movement Allegro of the Shostakovich, with both artists rattling off its grotesqueries at warp speed, will have you at the edge of your chair. They're as admirable in the brooding Largo of that work and in conveying the rhapsodic Romanticism of the Prokofiev Sonata. At times they can seem self-indulgent, lingering over phrases in both of those Sonatas and teasing the lines in Stravinsky's Suite italienne, which the composer arranged for cello and piano from his Pulcinella ballet. But the flip side of that is the spontaneity that they achieve here, and even when pianissimos are taken down to the barely audible or diminuendos are exaggerated, the effects are too thrilling to complain about. Here's another must-have for their many fans.--Dan Davis