As several cellists have found, the sonatas by Rachmaninov and Shostakovich make a good pairing. To hear them in conjuction is to be more than ever aware of what they have in common: the arching, eloquent melodic lines associated with Rachmaninov but every bit as much part of Shostakovich’s idiom, the vehement scherzo vigour that Shostakovich may well have admired in Rachmaninov and which in his own case brings close to the surface the latent bitterness that by 1934 was entering his music. Boris Andrianov is well placed to understand these connections and it is interesting that he finds it possible to relax with Shostakovich’s Largo into something softer and more lyrical, more Rachmaninov-like, in fact, than the impassioned manner associated with Rostropovich (who made a classic version with the composer himself).

These are beautiful performances by two careful and thoughtful artists. Shostakovich is more considerate of his cellist than Rachmaninov, whose torrential keyboard manner can set fearful problems for the performers (even with the tactful help of the recording here). Rem Urasin is fully master of all that Rachmaninov offers him, and remains, especially in the Andante, a master of the composer’s most lyrical manner, as well as being completely undaunted by the ferocious pounding of the Allegro scherzando. Doubtless, however, they are happy to relax into the elegant lines of the Vocalise that must by now have been arranged for and played by almost every instrument under the sun. It remains a haunting piece.