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Anastasia Kobekina © Julia Altukhova
ANASTASIA KOBEKINA / JULIEN QUENTIN
Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Shchedrin
Showcasing works inspired by ballet, tango and folk, cellist Anastasia Kobekina and pianist Julien Quentin celebrate the Russian masters through a different perspective.
Programme
IGOR STRAVINSKY
‘Suite Italienne’
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano Op. 19
RODION SHCHEDRIN
‘In the style of Albéniz’
Distribution
- Anastasia Kobekina cello
- Julien Quentin piano
Penned in 1932 for Russian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, Stravinsky’s ‘Suite italienne’ is a transcription of themes from his ballet Pulcinella, based on themes by Pergolesi. Consisting of an intraduzione, a serenata, an aria, a Tarantella (featuring virtuosic pizzicato), and an intriguing Minuetto which runs straight into the merry finale, the suite may be Italian-inspired, but its sound world is pure Stravinskian Russian folk. It’s then whispers of Russian Orthodox bells and chant you hear most strongly in Rachmaninoff’s four-movement Cello Sonata of 1901. Intensely passionate, it was written shortly after his recovery from the mental breakdown precipitated by the failure of his First Symphony. It’s then back to Southern European influence for the sultry rhythms of Shchedrin’s 1973 piece, ‘In the Style of Albéniz’.