Dmitri Shostakovich composed his second Cello Concerto in Crimea in 1966. The premiere took place at the Moscow Conservatory in September of the same year. As with the first Cello Concerto, Mstislav Rostropovich again took the solo part; he was accompanied by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra under Yevgeny Svetlanov. Compared to the first Cello Concerto, the three-movement work is more restrained and introspective. The form is freer, with slow tempi, extended solo sections and chamber-music-like...