19th Century Russian Cello Music

Tchaikovsky, Davidov, Lyadov, Arensky and Rimsky-korsakov Dmitrii Khrychev (cello),

Olga Solovieva (piano)

Naxos 8.573951 64:06 mins

Naxos has long made a virtue of its commitment to repertoire completism, and this apparently standard collection of Russian Romantic cello music delivers some rarities. Fronted by Tchaikovsky’s famous Variations on a Rococo theme, it also includes the fiendishly difficult Fantasy on Russian Songs by Karl Davidov (no wonder he was anointed the ‘tsar of cellists’ by Tchaikovsky), and, rarer still, Konstantin Lyadov (father of the composer who failed to compose

The Firebird for Diaghilev) recently unearthed Fantasy on Gipsy Songs.

Dmitrii Khrychev is the real deal: an old-fashioned cellist of the Russian school with a sound like clear honeyed light and a core of steel. His Rococo Variations are superbly paced, virtuosic and elegant, right down to the final octaves. It’s a pity his involuntary grunting becomes part of the texture. This is less obvious in the crazily athletic Davidov Fantasy where musical considerations are ditched in favour of sporting display: it’s exhausting just to listen to. I found Lyadov’s rather vampish Fantasy on Gipsy Songs far more engaging: he revels in popular ‘gypsy’ and Russian folk songs, giving them space to shine, never allowing acrobatics to dominate. Arensky’s Two Pieces, dedicated to Davidov, are irresistible, and delivered with panache, despite the baritonal murmuring, as is his gorgeous Orientale. Olga Solovieva is an assertive and characterful collaborator but the recorded piano sound doesn’t serve her well, being just a little too backward and rather muddy. Helen Wallace PERFORMANCE ★★★★

RECORDING ★★★