MIASKOVSKY / SCRIABIN / SCHNITTKE / PROKOFIEV / RACHMANINOV

Russian Music for Cello & Piano

Nikolai Miaskovsky (1881–1950)

Sonata No. 2 in A minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 81

1 I. Allegro moderato

2 II. Andante cantabile

3 III. Allegro con spirito

4 Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915), Etude Op. 8, No. 11 Transcription by Gregor Piatigorsky

5 Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998), Musica Nostalgica, for Violoncello and Piano

6 Sergei Prokoviev (1891–1953), Adagio from Ten Pieces from Cinderella, Op. 97b

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943)

Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19

7 I. Lento – Allegro moderato

8 II. Allegro scherzando

9 III. Andante

10 IV. Allegro mosso

Wendy Warner (cello)

Irina Nuzova (piano)

The WarnerNuzova duo — cellist Wendy Warner and pianist Irina Nuzova — makes its recording debut with five late-Romantic Russian works on an album dedicated to the memory of one of Warner’s mentors, the illustrious Russian cellist, composer, and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007).

Fittingly, two of the pieces were originally written for Rostropovich: Nikolai Miaskovsky’s rarely heard Sonata No. 2 in A Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 81; and Alfred Schnittke’s Baroque-inspired Musica nostalgica, for violoncello and piano.

This is the first American recording of Miaskovsky’s mellifluous Sonata No. 2, a work that’s rarely performed outside of Russia. It will be a discovery for most listeners.

Alexander Scriabin’s Etude Op. 8, No. 11, is a beautiful encore piece brimming with chromatic harmonies; Sergei Prokofiev’s Adagio from Ten Pieces from Cinderella, Op. 97b, is based on a duet from his ballet; and Sergei Rachmaninov’s Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19, is a riveting four-movement work from the same period as his Second Piano Concerto.

Cedille CDR90000120