Lugansky. Capuçon Rachmaninoff, Sonata for Cello and Piano

Sergey Rachmaninov (18731943) Sonata for cello piano in G minor, Op. 19 (1901) Nikolai Lugansky, piano Gautier Capuçon, cello September 2020, from Moscow Philharmonic Society I. Lento Allegro moderato 0:00 II. Allegro scherzando 12:55 III. Andante 19:30 IV. Allegro mosso 25:48 Written in 1901, the year after the perennially beloved Second Piano Concerto, the Cello Sonata reflects, perhaps, the state of Rachmaninovs heart and mind. Having suffered a nervous breakdown after the catastrophic failure of his First Symphony in 1897, Rachmaninov had fought his way back to mental and creative health. Surely it is not fanciful to hear an echo of this in the struggles of the first movement, with its conflict between semitones and whole tones; in the dark night of the Scherzo; and then in the blazing joy of the Finale No bearded Russian priest with his Easter cry Christ is Risen can ever have sounded more triumphant than the cello does as it announces the