Hee-Young Lim: Russian Cello Sonatas

For her latest album on Sony Classical, cellist Hee-Young Lim has chosen works born out of tumultuous times in the lives of two Russian contemporaries: Sergei Rachmaninoff and Sergei Prokofiev. On this recording of sonatas, she is joined by pianist Nathalia Milstein. Lim remembers being profoundly influenced after hearing works by the great Russian masters as a child. It unleashed her curiosity and inspired her to immerse herself in their music. “Their overwhelming ability to so intimately display the very soul of humanity in their writing, to express, through music, thoughts and feelings in almost every measure and phase is very inspiring,” says Lim. “I find that the emotion that emanates from the Russian cello repertoire coming out of this era is more palpable than one might expect from say Beethoven or Bach.”