Shostakovich & Kabalevsky: Cello Sonatas / Isserlis, Mustonen

Steven Isserlis and Olli Mustonen play Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D Minor – deemed as ‘the most popular cello sonata of the twentieth century’ - alongside two other Russian masterpieces, from pre-revolutionary Prokofiev to Kabalevsky in the Khrushchev era.

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REVIEW:

Isserlis and Mustonen make a strong case for the Kabalevsky in a performance of grand gestures that proves a real roller coaster ride. Isserlis’s intensity and Mustonen’s pianistic weight suit the piece wonderfully well. In contrast, the Shostakovich seems spacious and ruminative. The shorter pieces are also superbly done.

– Gramophone