SERGEI VASILYEVICH RACHMANINOFF

Pianist Hélène Grimaud and cellist Jan Vogler weave together a warm, impassioned dialogue in a masterpiece of Romanticism. One of the first works Rachmaninoff wrote after recovering from the breakdown caused by his First Symphony’s catastrophic reception, the Cello Sonata in G Minor (1901) symbolizes his renewed confidence and creativity as a composer. In the Andante, expansive phrases build in intensity before subsiding into expressive serenity. Rachmaninoff gives equal importance to the two instruments and, with their virtuosity and the instinctive understanding that comes from a longstanding duo partnership, Grimaud and Vogler find the perfect balance in this performance.