Chostakovitch Rachmaninov Préludes et Romances pour violoncelle et piano Andrianov Urasin

Boris Andrianov and Rem Urasin’s new disc, like their previous, is dedicated to the music of two great Russian composers, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich. In Russia, the 20th century was a time of vast historical and cultural change. If Rachmaninov’s Romances are the poignant swansong of late Romanticism and the passing age, the young Shostakovich’s piano preludes, written a mere 20 years later, create a wholly new sort of expression : a hitherto undreamt-of grotesquerie, an irony turning to sarcasm, a sometimes ecstatic lyricism. This programme presents a unique transcription of Rachmaninov’s Romances, letting us see them in an entirely new light. The cello takes the place of the voice, elevating the music into a world of imagery, finessing the words which usually bring these images to concrete life. The highlight is the 15 Shostakovich Preludes, in Urasin’s transcription for cello and piano. In contrast to Tsyganov’s well-known transcriptions for violin and piano – where the piano’s role is that of a modest escort to the soloist – Urasin’s version is full-blown chamber music : both partners are engaged in a constant dialogue, sometimes heated.