On their new release, cellist Markus Hohti and pianist Emil Holmström perform Brahms’s two Cello Sonatas on period instruments, including a Bösendorfer piano from 1882. The sonatas were composed at very different stages of the composer’s musical career. The Sonata in E minor is the first ‘duo sonata’ that Brahms wrote, and the music still exudes a sense of the Romantic unpredictability so typical of his earlier output, a phenomenon that appears, for instance, in momentary shifts to what might even be considered naïve compositional solutions. The F major Sonata, meanwhile, is the work of a mature, experienced composer; it revels in compositional fun and games, and one of its most prominent features is the virtuosic approach to the instrumental writing.

In the booklet Markus Hohti writes: “Brahms’ cello sonatas have been recorded hundreds of times before. Why, then, produce another recording? With this recording, we wish to leave our own mark on the interpretative continuum of Brahms’ works. That continuum consists partly of received wisdom passed from one generation to the next, possibly even from the composer himself, partly of musicians’ own interpretations, and the influence of trends pervasive at different times. [...] Many clichés are used to describe Brahms’ music; people commonly refer to the ‘warmth of its sound’. It would appear that such banalities have come about over time through the gradual shift in artistic ideals and the changing sound world of modern instruments. It is time to open our ears and find new words to define Brahms’ music, words that describe how the music might originally have sounded.”

Markus Hohti is equally at home on the Baroque cello, appearing at chamber-music festivals, and exploring the world of contemporary music. He performs actively as a soloist, chamber musician and with his own ensembles defunensemble and Uusinta Ensemble. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Salzburger Biennale, the Lucerne Festival, Our Festival, the Kuhmo Chamber Music, at the Zürich Tonhalle, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and the Berliner Philharmonie. Hohti initially studied at the Sibelius Academy with Martti Rousi, in Basel with Thomas Demenga, and has studied Baroque cello with Markku Luolajan-Mikkola.

Emil Holmström spends most of his time giving solo and chamber performances around Europe, though several projects have taken him even further around the world. He is a regular face at Finnish festivals and concert series and has given solo performances with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lapland Chamber Orchestra and Tapiola Sinfonietta. In 2019 Alba Records released a disc of Robert Schumann’s violin sonatas played on period instruments (with violinist Eriikka Maalismaa) to much critical acclaim. In addition to working with his own ensembles, Holmström regularly performs the music of our time with Avanti! Chamber Orchestra. Holmström graduated from the Sibelius Academy as a student of Erik T. Tawaststjerna before continuing his studies in Paris with Marie-Françoise Bucquet.