The Brahms Connection

Album review

This collection of three Sonatas for Cello and Piano comprises works that appeared between 1865-1866 and 1886 by composers who were colleagues. If their personal association varied between genuine friendship and mere acquaintance, each became a significant figure in the era approaching the zenith of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Praised as “one of the most important young pianists of today” by International Piano, Sabine Weyer showed an exceptional musical talent since her earliest childhood. Following her initial training at the Conservatoire of Esch-Alzette in Luxembourg, she studied at pianistic schools in France, Belgium, United Kingdom under the guidance of, amongst others, Bernard Lerouge (CRR Metz, France), Vassil Guenov (Belgium), Aleksandar Madzar (Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, Belgium), Rustem Hayroudinoff (Royal Academy of Music, London, UK). Since 2015 Sabine Weyer has been professor for piano at the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, fulfilling her desire to pass on musical knowledge to younger generations. As a pedagogue, she has been invited to teach at masterclasses abroad including at the Scriabine Summer Academy in Italy, the Beijing Normal University in China and the European Summer Music Academy in Djakova/Kosovo.

Dimitri Maslennikov began his musical studies at the age of five. At 11 years old, he won the International Soloists Competition in Moscow and the Czech International Competition in Prague. He was a winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition and the Rostropovitch Competition. At the age of 14, he received a three-year scholarship from the French government to study at the Paris Conservatory where he attained First Prize. He has been championed by maestro Christoph Eschenbach and has performed with the NDR Hamburg Orchestra, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom he has made a ‘live’ recording. © Quartz