Mstislav Rostropovich is regarded as the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of all time. To celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Russian maestro's birth on 27 March 2012, Decca have collated all the recordings he made for Decca and Philips into one stunning 5CD box set. A must not only for students of the cello, but also for all who appreciate exemplary musicianship. The set includes all the recordings he made with the English composer Benjamin Britten - recordings of Britten's own works, all of which were dedicated to the cellist - alongside classic recordings of chamber music by Schubert, Schumann, Debussy and Britten's teacher, Frank Bridge. Also included is Rostropovich's masterful 1964 recording of the then recently discovered Cello Concerto in C by Haydn, with Britten conducting, which Gramophone described as "perfect", praising the cellist for his "extreme poise".