Apart from the title piece, and two resembling fragments, this record is actually better for what is in the subtitle: Seven poems of Alexander Blok. Shostakovich wrote it late in his career in 1967 when he was 61. He was not a well man, having already suffered a few heart attacks, and with arthritis in his right hand. This work is full of the kind of nostalgic looking back to ones life many people do at that age. After so many records that have to do with either Rostropovich or Shostakovich, this one again connects the two: it was composed a birthday present for Slava’s 70th birthday.
The work also contrasts enormously with the title work of this record, the piano quintet op 57, composed in 1931, by a vibrant and energetic young man.
I find the cover of this record puzzling: is this the kind if image artefact that was used in the 80s, to show off the digital modernity of the recording technique? Look at us being modern!