American cellist John-Henry Crawford was named Young Artist of the Year by the Classical Recording Foundation in 2019, and his debut album demonstrates exceptional insight and nuance in a varied and fascinating program, performed with pianist Victor Asuncion. Playing a rare 200-year-old cello smuggled out of Austria by his grandfather, Robert Popper, John-Henry Crawford performs sonatas by Brahms and Shostakovich alongside Ligeti's Solo Sonata. Brahms insisted that the piano was the cellos equal in his Cello Sonatas, and the F major Sonata gives Victor Asuncion plenty of opportunities to shine. Ligeti's Solo Sonata has had a turbulent journey from romantic gesture to Soviet censorship to staple of the repertoire, and Shostakovich's D minor Sonata grew out of a troubled time in his life, but in both cases the cello is given an array of lyrical, passionate and technically demanding material, performed here with great flair.

DIALOGO

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Sonata for Piano and Cello No.2 in F Major, Op.99

1.  I Allegro vivace
2.  II Adagio affettuoso
3.  III Allegro passionate
4.  IV Allegro molto

György Ligeti (1923-2006)
Sonata for Solo Cello

5.  I Dialogo
6.  II Capriccio

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op.40

7.  I Allegro non troppo
8.  II Allegro
9.  III Largo
10.  IV Allegro

John-Henry Crawford, cello
Victor Santiago Asuncion, piano