Rohan de Saram, one of the world’s most distinguished cellists, teams up with the equally eminent pianist Benjamin Frith in a very interesting and distinctive cross-section of pieces for cello and piano written some eight decades apart.

The grief-stricken tone poem Malinconia is a fairly unusual work by Sibelius and is performed here with the emotional depth it requires. Rohan de Saram regards the Sonata for Cello and Piano of Ivor Keys as amongst one of the best of its genre. Indeed, Keys often performed the work alongside de Saram, so it is fitting that this rarely recorded work appears on this release.

Along with Paul Klegel’s successful arrangement of Brahms’ first Violin Sonata, this release makes a fascinating recital disc, performed by two outstanding British musicians.