Russian Legends (A short story of Russian Cello Music) Cheng² Duo

• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Cinderella, Op. 87:
• 1Cinderella, Op. 87: Adagio: The Prince and Cinderella, Op. 97bis / Op. 97a (Arranged for Cello and Piano by Mstislav Rostropovich)04:59
• Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 119:
• 2Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 119: I. Andante grave - Moderato Animato11:12
• 3Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 119: II. Moderato05:02
• 4Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 119: III. Allegro, ma non Troppo08:25
• Alexander Glazunov (1865 - 1936):
• 5Chant du ménestrel, Op. 71 / IAG 4 (Arranged for Cello and Piano by Alexander Glazunov)03:53
• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 40:
• 6Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 40: I. Allegro non Troppo11:51
• Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 40:
• 7Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 40: II. Allegro03:20
• 8Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 40: III. Largo08:11
• 9Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op. 40: IV. Allegro03:59
• Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893):
• 10Pezzo capriccioso in B Minor, Op. 62 (Arranged for Cello and Piano by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)06:40
• Anton Arensky (1861 - 1906): Two Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 12 / IAA 37:
• 11Two Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 12 / IAA 37: I. Petite Ballade03:05
• 12Two Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 12 / IAA 37: II. Danse Capricieuse04:09
• Alexander Scriabin (1871 - 1915):
• 13Romance for Cello and Piano, IAS 7402:03
• Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943): Lied (Romance) for Cello and Piano in F Minor:
• 14Lied (Romance) for Cello and Piano in F Minor: Lentamente, molto Cantabile02:18
• Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 19 / ISR 7:
• 15Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 19 / ISR 7: I. Lento. Allegro moderato. Allegro Molto13:43
• 16Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 19 / ISR 7: II. Allegro Scherzando06:37
• 17Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 19 / ISR 7: III. Andante06:05
• 18Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 19 / ISR 7: IV. Allegro Mosso11:27
• Sergei Rachmaninov:
• 1914 Romances, Op. 34 / ISR 55: XIV. Vocalise. Lentamente (Arranged for Cello and Piano by Sergei Rachmaninov)06:17
• Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11 / TH 111 / IPT 118:
• 20String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11 / TH 111 / IPT 118: II. Andante Cantabile (Arranged for Cello and Piano by Cheng² Duo)06:59
• Total Runtime02:10:15

Info for Russian Legends (A short story of Russian Cello Music)

For their third audite album, the Cheng² Duo ventures to Russia. Portraying part of the cello’s musical history in Russia, Bryan and Silvie Cheng perform a programme centring on three great sonatas for cello and piano by Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, which are contrasted by a series of shorter works.

​After forays to Spain and France, the Cheng2 Duo ventures to Russia for their third audite album.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung described Bryan and Silvie Cheng's last CD, dedicated to Spanish music, as an "event of austere and severe, but also dreamy beauty", and praised the siblings' interpretation for "finding the correct idiom which manages to raise the temperature". Their new double album centres on the three great sonatas for cello and piano by Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Rachmaninov and Sergei Prokofiev. The Cheng2 Duo contrasts these with a series of shorter pieces by Anton Arensky, Piotr Tchaikovsky and Alexander Glazunov. This comprehensive programme represents a short history of Russian cello music which began with the foundation of the great music conservatoires in Saint Petersburg and Moscow in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Cheng² Duo

Cheng² Duo
Rooted by a sibling bond that transcends the familial, the Cheng² Duo (pronounced Cheng Squared Duo) transfixes listeners through its impassioned expressivity and contagious joy—critics have hailed their performances as “brilliant” (The Sunday Times, UK), “truly exhilarating” (The WholeNote, Canada), and “absolutely captivating…through a tremendous mastery of their instruments” (Pizzicato Magazine, Luxembourg). ​

Cellist Bryan Cheng, prizewinner of the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition and Verbier Festival’s coveted Prix Yves Paternot, and pianist Silvie Cheng, 2022-23 Cecilia Concerts Musician-in-Residence and National Arts Club Artist Fellow, have been making music together for nearly their entire lives. Since officially forming the Cheng² Duo at their 2011 Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut, their artistry has left lasting impressions across the globe, with extensive tours to illustrious concert halls and international festivals throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South Africa.

In the 2023/24 season, the duo will appear as guest soloists with the Banatul Philharmonic (Romania), embark on multi-week tours in Canada and South Africa, and present recitals in Switzerland and the US. Recent highlights include recitals at the Frauenkirche Dresden, Flagey (Brussels), Munich Künstlerhaus, California Center for the Arts, Dame Myra Hess Series (Chicago), Chamber Music at the Clark (Los Angeles), Harvard University (Cambridge), Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts (Kingston), Orford Musique, Salle Bourgie (Montréal), Palais Montcalm (Québec), as well as Chamberfest Cheboygan, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Toronto Summer Music Festivals. Past performances and interviews have been broadcast on CBC Radio, ICI Musique, Radio-Canada International, Vermont Public Radio, WCRB Classical Music Boston, WCNY Classic FM, Kulturradio RBB and Südwestrundfunk (SWR2) Germany, ORF Austria, and Classical Radio Orpheus (Moscow). ​

In the vanguard of creative programming, Bryan and Silvie are equally committed to presenting traditional masterworks, rediscovering neglected repertoire, and championing the music of their time. Since 2013, they have commissioned and arranged 15 new works, as well as curated cross-disciplinary concert experiences that meld classical and contemporary music with jazz, poetry, and visual/media arts. World-class collaborative partners have included photographer and cinematographer Edward Burtynsky, Mercury Films, and multimedia studio Normal. ​

Cheng² Duo has previously released a trilogy of critically-acclaimed albums on the German label audite: Russian Legends (2019), Violonchelo del fuego (2018), and Violoncelle français (2016). Born in Ottawa and Tokyo to Chinese parents, Bryan and Silvie are proud Canadians who are currently based in Berlin and New York City.

Booklet for Russian Legends (A short story of Russian Cello Music)