Cello & Piano Works (DG Original Source) LP { vinyl }

Chopin’s four-movement Cello Sonata op. 65 dates from 1845/46 and combined all the attractions of his richly ornamented writing for piano, here largely free from reminiscences of his native folk music. With an astonishing understanding of the individual character of the cello, one forgets that at the outset his creative concepts had been wholly pianistic in origin.

Schumann wrote few works for cello and piano, but those few are of considerable importance. The Adagio and Allegro op. 70 for cello and piano of 1849 is characteristic of Schumann's personal and unmistakable blend of eloquent melancholy with spontaneous naturalness, while the piano part, especially in the Allegro, is marked by subtly brilliant virtuosity. Perfect understanding and harmony mark this extraordinary recording by Argerich and Rostropovich.