Yo-Yo Ma presents inspired performances of Shostakovich' two cello concertos, recorded with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons as part of their award-winning decade-long Shostakovich Project. The inventive First, written for Rostropovich, is a famously demanding piece that was an early landmark in Ma’s own career. The far more introspective Second was the composer’s 60th-birthday present to himself. 💿 Out now: dgt.link/Yo-YoMa-Shostakovich | Deutsche Grammophon - DG

Shostakovich dedicated his two cello concertos to the great Mstislav Rostropovich, who was also one of his best friends. Here Rostropovich is playing the brilliant and addictive opening of the Concerto No. 1 in a 1961 recording, aged 33 and only two years after its premiere. | History of Music