From Darkness To Light

Over a quarter century after he last recorded them, an older and wiser Ashkenazy—now with Catherine Hewgill, Principal Cello with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra—offers a slightly more autumnal view of Prokofiev and Shostakovich’s Cello Sonatas. The emotional turmoil in Shostakovich’s life at the time of composition makes for a complex work, and this performance nicely captures the variegated mood, while Prokofiev’s, written for Rostropovich, is a gem, and played here with great passion. Rachmaninov’s Vocalise makes a charming extra.