Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99

“A perceived similarity between a theme in Bach's Art of Fugue and the opening of Brahm's first cello sonata led Sonia Wieder-Atherton and Imogen Cooper to experiment with musical relationships, arranging movements from Bach cantatas as punctuation marks between three Brahms sonatas. This unconvincing contrivance fails on many levels. It leaves the listener wanting more Bach while the Brahms sonatas - splendidly played, particularly in the turbulent outer movements - seem almost an interruption rather than an extension of a musical idea.” The Observer, 3rd August 2008

“Here are two performers of one mind musically. Their interpretations of all three Bahms Sonatas are beautifully paced, distinctively shaped and detailed. Cooper's reading of Kurtág's arrangement of Bach's BWV106 'Actus tragicus' is a haunting gem.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2008 ****

“[In the] Brahms's cello sonatas… Sonia Weider-Atherton and Imogen Cooper… hold the tension for the very soft, near nostalgic beauty of the E major coda, as they do for the many bars of pianissimo writing in the last movement of the Second Sonata. Not since Mstislav Rostropovich and Rudolf Serkin have these works been interpreted with such compulsive acuity... The Bach transcriptions are persuasive. ...Cooper steals this particular show in a meltingly moving re-creation of the Sonatina from Cantata No 106 that ought to be played first and last.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008

10 de Répertoire & Choc du Monde de la Musique Awards

“Our younger generation of cello soloists seems to favour a tone production which balances a refined upper range with a middle and lower register that's strong and well focused, rather than expansively rich and resonant. Readers will not need to be told that Rostropovich's solo image is definitely not of this ilk: his musical personality is in every sense larger than life and in this magnificent coupling of the cello sonatas, in partnership with Rudolf Serkin, the very forward balance of the recording exaggerates this impression in the most vivid way. By comparison the piano image – to the right of and behind the cello – is more reticent in timbre and seldom matches Rostropovich's rich flood of sound, which isn't, of course, to suggest that Serkin fails to project the music, merely that the microphone placing makes Rostropovich very much the dominating artist. This passionately warmhearted and ripely Brahmsian music-making almost overwhelms the listener in its sheer impact. But with playing of this calibre, with both artists wonderfully attuned to each other's responses, every nuance tells and Brahms's bold melodic lines soar out from the speakers to capture the imagination, and provide an enthralling musical experience in each and every work.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010