It was in Paris just before the end of the 19th century that George Enescu began to compose prolifically, but it is only in recent years that a number of these scores have emerged. The Piano Quintet in D major is one such work, lost for decades, but which proves to be a robust and elaborate piece reflecting the influence of Brahms. Enescu’s liking for unusual instrumental combinations is another theme of this album, such as the Prélude et Gavotte for violin, cello and two pianos, and the eloquent Pastorale, Menuet triste et Nocturne for violin and piano four hands. Aubade is Enescu’s only string trio, and the ever-popular Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in the arrangement for piano and string quintet ends the programme with a flourish.

It is an imaginary concert program comprising an enormous emotional spectrum from the extremely intimate (Malinconia, Waldesruhe, Prayer, etc.) to the virtuoso and life-affirming (Rondino, L‘abeille, and Andaluza); it is also a journey through disparate musical regions from North to South, from Finland to Spain, that poses some of the great questions of human existence: questions of meaning and duration, of inner peace, memory, and salvation. For years, the works I have selected here have always fascinated me with their inner greatness or melancholy beauty. Each of them is an homage to the virtuoso and lyrical possibilities of the cello and, not least, to the fantastic interpreters who have shaped my life as a musician – Emanuel Feuermann, Pau Casals, Gregor Piatigorsky, Gaspar Cassadó, Pierre Fournier, Mstislav Rostropovitch, and Arto Noras, to name only a few. Poe- tic moments of quiet contemplation encounter life-affirming, extremely sensual music of direct corporeal power.