Y–Squared – Yelian He (cello) Yasmin Rowe (piano)

This endearing pair began with Schumann at his most tuneful, his five folk-tune pieces. Then each played a viruoso party-piece, Nikolai Kapustin’s jazzy ‘Pastoral’ for solo piano, that for a minute sounded more like a piano duet, and Svante Henryson’s astonishing ‘Black Run’ for solo cello. Yelian He showed he could get a tune from everything between the tuning pegs and the spike. Perhaps he should look up and grin at the Grand Pause to discourage any premature applause. Chopin’s last major composition, the Cello Sonata in G minor, really showed what these two are made of, top-class musical talent.

Studio Theatre, Brighton Dome, 26 May 2016

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