Russian Cello Sonatas—Hee-Young Lim, cello; Nathalia Milstein, piano (Sony 118492)
Hee-Young Lim is the young Korean-born cellist who in 2015 was named by Yannick Nézet-Séguin as principal cellist of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. In 2018, she relocated to Beijing, taking up her new appointment with the Beijing Central Conservatory, the first Korean cellist ever named to the Beijing faculty. This pairing of sonatas by Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev follows her debut recording for Sony, French Cello Concertos with the London Symphony. She says of the Rachmaninoff Sonata: "Interest in the piece came late in my studies because I always thought that, despite the beautiful melodies, it was the ‘Fifth Piano Concerto’ accompanied by the cello. I wished we had as many notes as the piano had! However I now truly enjoy playing this sonata, which represents great chamber music by Rachmaninoff." Concerning the 1949 Prokofiev Sonata, she has this to say: "It has a greater range for the cello, with more technical variety. I like the fact that it has a lot of fantasy, like a fairy tale. I feel I’m telling a story." On Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, she observes, "Given that it’s a song without words, it’s an ideal piece for cello, as the cello is so similar to the human voice. I feel somehow deeply linked to this song, I love its emotional intimacy and passion. For me it’s about yearning, homesickness or something so intimate that it can’t be expressed through words." (The link connects you to Hee-Young Lim’s website.)