Ella van Poucke & Caspar Vos - Rachmaninoff: Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 19, Two Pieces for Cello and Piano Op. 2 & Trio Élégiaque No. 1 - Shalygin: “Tristissima” for Cello and Piano (2023) [Hi-Res]

Rachmaninov's ten chamber works, two of them left incomplete, all date from his late teens or early twenties. The 2 Pieces, Op 2 - Prélude and Danse orientale for cello and piano – date from 1891-2.

The most widely performed of Rachmaninov's chamber compositions is the Cello Sonata. Rachmaninov completed this sonata in November 1901. On 2nd December the composer and the celebrated cellist Anatoly Brandukov, to whom the work is dedicated, gave the premiere in Moscow. Rachmaninov's sonata is a gem of the cello-sonata repertoire.

The first of Rachmaninov's two works entitled Trio élégiaque is believed to date from 1890-1. The manuscript bears the dates 18-21 January 1892, but it has been suggested that this probably refers to a late revision which he made before the premiere that month. Though the work of a teenager, this single-movement trio has some characteristic touches which anticipate Rachmaninov's mature style, while the confident piano-writing reflects his burgeoning virtuosity The influence of Tchaikovsky upon Rachmaninov's trio is evident.

The Ukrainian-Dutch composer Maxim Shalygin was born in Kamianske in 1985. He composed his Tristissima for Ella van Poucke. Shalygin has commented: “Certainly this is an unacceptable beauty today, one that can be on the borderline of vulgarity, while at the same time opening us up to some feelings that we often shy away from ourselves.”