Russian Music for Cello & Piano (Nikolay Myaskovsky - Gregor Piatigorsky - Alexander Scriabin)

Chronique

Each highly gifted and sought-after performers in her own right, cellist Wendy Warner and pianist Irina Nuzova officially joined forces in 2008 to create the WarnerNuzova Duo. In celebration of their Russian musical roots (Nuzova was born in and studied for a time in Russia; Warner is a protégé of Rostropovich), they have selected for their first album a selection of Russian music for cello and piano. This is certainly not an unusual programming idea, but their choice of literature goes outside of the box. With the exception of the oft-recorded Rachmaninov sonata, Warner and Nuzova choose pieces with which listeners may be less familiar: the magnificent but woefully underplayed Myaskovsky Second Sonata, the elegant Piatigorsky transcription of Scriabin's Op. 8/11 Etude, the playfully clever Schnittke Musica nostalgica, and charming Prokofiev Adagio from Cinderella. Throughout the disc, Warner and Nuzova put forth technically spotless playing, extremely tight ensemble playing, ideal balance between the two instruments, and a real sense of a singular musical vision. While Warner's sound is strong and focused -- easily heard over the piano -- her recorded sound quality is surprisingly distant sounding, almost echoic. Apart from this minor flaw, listeners will enjoy a rapturous performance of the Rachmaninov sonata alongside convincing introductions to works that may be less familiar.

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