NEW ON NAXOS | SEPTEMBER 2022
INCLUDES WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING
8.574377 Release Date: 23 Sep 2022
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Gabriel Schwabe © Studio Monbijou
Russian Ballads PROKOFIEV • SHOSTAKOVICH • KISSIN
Gabriel Schwabe, Cello Roland Pöntinen, Piano
Key Features: •
The 20th century saw an abundance of notable Russian cellists inspiring an extensive repertoire by Soviet composers. In the cello sonatas by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, both composers explore the rich and emotive timbre of the instrument with expressive subtleties and bittersweet emotions, alongside their typical touches of wit and irony. Internationally acclaimed pianist Evgeny Kissin has recently returned to composing, and his Cello Sonata is akin to a ballad in its restraint and introspection.
This well-filled programme of Russian cello sonatas has a great deal going for it, by no means the least of which will be the premiere recording of Evgeny Kissin’s Cello Sonata, Op. 2 . The sonatas of Prokofiev and Shostakovich are both well- known and popular but by no means always paired together, and the addition of Prokofiev’s improvisational Ballade and the Adagio, Op. 97b from the ballet Cinderella tip the balance further in favour of this disc when it comes to the programme, let alone the quality of the performances. • This new release joins an already substantial and highly acclaimed catalogue. Brahms’ Cello Sonatas and Songs (8.573489) was admired for Gabriel Schwabe ’s ‘beautifully smooth and sweet tone’ by Fanfare , and his Elgar Cello Concerto (8.574320) was considered ‘hugely impressive, full of finely realised detail, and lacking in bombast’ by The Guardian ( ). •
WATCH NEW TRAILER BELOW:
Pianist and composer Roland Pöntinen has performed with major orchestras throughout the world and at prestigious international festivals in Europe and the US. Thanks to an insatiable musical appetite and a stupendous technique he has acquired a vast repertoire ranging from Bach to Ligeti. Pöntinen is one the most widely recorded contemporary pianists with well over 100 titles.
DIGITAL BONUS TRACK
Sergey PROKOFIEV (1891–1953) Sonata for Solo Cello
Companion Titles – Gabriel Schwabe, Cello
Left incomplete at the composer’s death, the Sonata for Solo Cello proved to be the last piece that Prokofiev began, in 1952. The Sonata was premiered in Moscow by Natalia Gutman in 1972, in a version elaborated by musicologist Vladimir Blok, but on this recording Gabriel Schwabe plays the piece essentially as Prokofiev left it. Only available for download and streaming
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Click to listen to Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 134: I. Andante
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