Grechaninov & Rachmaninoff: Russian Works for Cello & Piano

Featuring

Katharina Deserno
Nenad Lečić
Alexander Gretchaninov
Sergei Rachmaninoff

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Composer Biography

Alexander Grechaninov, a student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, was widely recognized and successful in the first half of the 20th century but was later overshadowed by the avant-garde.

Composer Biography

Alexander Grechaninov, who initially received a state pension from the Tsar for his musical merits, lost it after the October Revolution and later emigrated to Paris before settling in the United States.

Composer Biography

Sergei Rachmaninov, a romantic composer, incurred the avant-garde's malice early on due to his Tchaikovsky-oriented melodies.

Composition History

Sergei Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata, Op. 19, was written after he recovered from a depression caused by the disastrous failure of his first symphony, with the help of Dr. Nikolai Dahl.

Performer Biography

Katharina Deserno, the cellist on this album, is known for her broad repertoire and exceptional concert programs, and became one of the youngest lecturers at Cologne University of Music and Dance in 2008.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Both Alexander Grechaninov and Sergei Rachmaninov, despite emigrating to the United States, remained committed to late Romanticism in their own individual ways well into the 20th century.

Composer Biography

Sergei Rachmaninov spent his later years as an expatriate in the United States, never fully acclimatizing to California and retaining poor English, only receiving American citizenship shortly before his death in 1943.