Versatile cellist Christoph Croisé indulges in his passion for romantic Russian repertoire, coming together with close collaborators violinist Andrey Baranov and pianist Alexander Panfilov for a recording of works by a young Rachmaninoff.

All of the works on this album were written before 1917, the year that the composer left Russia in the wake of the Revolution, and eventually emigrated to the United States.

The prodigious Rachmaninoff wrote his single-movement Trio élégiaque in G minor in 1892, when he was just 18 years old. A year later, he put pen to paper to compose his second Trio élégiaque, in D minor, on the eve of the death of his friend and mentor Tchaikovsky, to whom he dedicated the work. Both trios are imbued with an air of nostalgia and melancholy that belie the composer’s youthfulness.

Christoph and his colleagues offer as encores a selection of songs arranged for piano trio by Alexander Panfilov: “How Fair This Spot” and “Lilacs” from Rachmaninoff’s 12 Romances, Op. 21, part of a set written during his honeymoon; and “The Dream” and “Daisies” from his Op. 38 collection Six Romances (1916).

The album ends appropriately with an arrangement of “Autumn Song” from Tchaikovsky’s solo piano work The Seasons.

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943)
1. Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor
Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 9
2. I. Moderato-Allegro vivace
3. II. Quasi variazione. Andante
4. III. Allegro risoluto-Moderato

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF; arr. Alexander Panfilov
5. 12 Romances, Op. 21 No. 7, How Fair this Spot
6. 6 Romances, Op. 38 No. 5, The Dream
7. 6 Romances, Op. 38 No. 3, Daisies
8. 12 Romances, Op. 21 No. 5, Lilacs

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893); arr. Louis Eaton
The Seasons, Op. 37a
9. No. 10, Autumn Song

Recorded on January 7th & 8th, 2024, at Reformierte Kirche, Niederlenz, Switzerland, this immaculate work opens on the gradually flowering, fifteen minute Rachmaninoff work Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor and then brings forth Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 9, which opens on the sterner, aching fare of Moderato-Allegro vivace, the beautiful Quasi variazione. Andante, and closes on the sprightly flourishing Allegro risoluto-Moderato.

Along next is a quartet again by Rachmaninoff, which begins on the yearn found driving 12 Romances, Op. 21 No. 7, How Fair this Spot, the cultured 6 Romances, Op. 38 No. 5, The Dream, the more stoically-hued 6 Romances, Op. 38 No. 3, Daisies, culminating on the dainty, organically delicate 12 Romances, Op. 21 No. 5, Lilacs, the set closing on Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons, Op. 37a and the impassioned No. 10, Autumn Song.

Official Purchase Link