DIALOGO
John-Henry Crawford; Victor Santiago Asuncion
Orchid Classics ORC100166 (orchidclassics.com)
Listen
Johannes Brahms - Sonata for Piano and Cello No.2 in F Major, Op.99 - Adagio Affetuoso
György Ligeti - Sonata for Solo Cello - Dialogo
Dmitri Shostakovich - Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Op.40 - Allegro
Read the Review
The following review is an excerpt from Strings Attached (July 2021) which can be read in its entirety here.
DIALOGO is the excellent debut album from the American cellist John-Henry Crawford, accompanied by the Filipino-American pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion (Orchid Classics ORC100166 orchidclassics.com).
“Dialogue” is Crawford’s description of the recital’s concept: Dialogo is the first of the two movements of the brief but striking Sonata for Solo Cello by György Ligeti, but the cellist also sees conversation between the partners in Brahms’ Cello Sonata No.2 in F Major Op.99 and the desire for dialogue in the Cello Sonata in D Minor Op.40 by Shostakovich, who at the time of the work’s composition was temporarily separated from his wife.
Crawford draws a warm, rich tone from the 200-year-old cello that was smuggled out of Austria by his grandfather following Kristallnacht in 1938, and is ably supported by fine playing from Asuncion in performances of strength, sensitivity and passion.
