In the midst of war and state-sponsored terror, one thing in Prokofiev’s life retained its priceless value: friendship. It was for his good friend, Mstislav Rostropovich, that he composed the Sonata for cello and piano, op. 119, and the Sinfonia Concertante, op. 125.

(…) ‘The attraction for cellists lies in the phenomenal technical challenge, the lyrical intensity and the many different roles the soloist, as the main character in this epic, has to play. A great fighting spirit is asked for. If things go well and the dragon is down at the end, the satisfaction is enormous. Besides, who wouldn’t want to be Slava for forty minutes? The presence and inspiration of the big man is all over the piece. (…)

(… ) For this live recording, to have the support of Vassily Sinaisky and this orchestra, that has a decade of Gergiev behind it, was a tremendous privilege. They were exciting days. The choice for the two solo encores, Tcherepnin and Crumb was made to give two examples on a totally different scale from the same early postwar years in which the Concertante was written. The Tcherepnin particularly, is almost on a miniaturist scale.’ (…)

Pieter Wispelwey (from liner notes)

Crumb, G: Cello Sonata
Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante in E minor for cello & orchestra, Op. 125
Tcherepnin: Suite for Solo Cello
Tcherepnin: Suite for Solo Cello, Op. 76