[In the Cello Sonata] Elschenbroich and Limonov plot a daringly extreme course, their first movement more tautly conceived, the central scherzo a positive whirlwind. The finale goes to the other extreme, its disconsolate recall of past gestures spun out to epic proportions...Strongly recommended.

The playing is introspective and intense, with plenty moody self-reflection in the dark ebbs and whispered nostalgia of the First Cello Sonata...Petr Limonov provides immaculately chiselled piano counterparts throughout.

[the disc] explores different aspects of the composer’s music, from the brilliant attitudinal extremes of the Sonata No 1 (with its blazing whirlwind of a scherzo, played with venomous energy) and the charm of Suite in the Old Style, to the elegiac timelessness of the Madrigal In Memoriam Oleg Kagan. The disc ends with Elsenbroich’s own Shards of Alfred Schnittke, a consummately written reflection on the composer.

Compelling renditions that come highly recommended

[Elschenbroich] gives an account of his deep immersion in the music of Alfred Schnittke. Elschenbroich and pianist Petr Limonov respond vividly to the bleak and musically disembodied in Schnittke…the biggest, and most impressive achievement is the First Cello Sonata of 1978.