When you want bread, go to the baker
When you want fish, go to the sea
When you want the real thing
Don't look no further
Just bring it on back home to Maxie.
That's right,
Dmitry Shostakovich's son
Maxim was the conductor with the genetic connection to the source of the music of the greatest composer of the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics. Trained first as a pianist,
Maxim soon switched over to conducting and never looked back. From his debut recording of a pair of his dad's film scores through his world-premiere recording of his Fifteenth Symphony,
Maxim quickly proved himself a dedicated interpreter of his father's music who more than compensated for his occasional technical slips by his unique insights and unfailing love. In this 1985 recording of both cello concertos with soloist
Heinrich Schiff and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks,
Maxim delivers serious, straightforward performances that nevertheless sound the music's deepest depths. Of course, German cellist
Schiff is a large part of this. His strong technique, clear tone, and soulful interpretations are clearly far under the skin of the music. But through the solid yet characterful playing of the Bavarian orchestra,
Maxim goes even further into the music's heart and mind. In its hands, the First Concerto sounds more lyrical and more danceable and the Second Concerto more tragic and isolated than in any other performances. Preserved in Philips' clean and crisp but still warmly colorful early digital recordings, these superlative performances need to be heard by anyone who professes to love the works and the composer.