Violinist Daniel Kogan, cellist Maria Zaitseva, and pianist Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev have recorded an album that includes three works by French composers, united by form, instrumental composition, and their significance in the authors' lives. For the release titled "Weddings and Funerals," the performers chose the sonatas of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and César Franck.
The idea of "Weddings and Funerals" belongs to Daniel Kogan, who has recently shown a strong interest in French music. "Each of my albums is largely autobiographical. Different music accompanies me during various periods of life. It is connected to what I'm experiencing at the moment of recording or shortly before." The album features Debussy’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello, and Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major. These works were composed between 1886 and 1927, but they are arranged in the album not chronologically but to create an internal narrative.
For each piece, the musicians sought a new interpretation so as not to replicate the approaches of other performers or to find a sound that would reflect both the style of the pieces and the individual manner of the artists. Each selected piece represents a chamber duet of two instruments – violin and cello or violin and piano – and requires particularly subtle exploration of timbres, solutions, and nuances.
The violin plays a key role in "Weddings and Funerals," participating in all the pieces. Kogan demonstrates how its sound can change depending on the composer’s style and the other voices in the piece. The album allows listeners to trace the shift in balance from the predominantly violin-centered sonata of Debussy to the piano-focused sonata of Franck, and to the equal partnership of instruments in Ravel's work.
The title "Weddings and Funerals" arose from biographical details. Debussy’s sonata became the last work he performed in public, his testament. The first movement of Ravel’s sonata was dedicated to Debussy – after the composer’s death. César Franck presented his work to one of the main interpreters of his music, violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, on the occasion of the latter’s wedding. This establishes an internal dramaturgy in the recording: "farewell – memory – joy of life."
Kogan, Zaitseva, and Tarasevich-Nikolaev have long been acquainted and have performed together multiple times. The three musicians do not form a permanent ensemble; each is primarily interesting as an individual artist. Daniel Kogan has participated multiple times in performance competitions in Russia and abroad, winning the III prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2023, and has collaborated with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia "Evgeny Svetlanov" and musicians like Lucas Debargue, Lukas Geniušas, and Philip Kopachevsky. The violinist’s debut album featuring recordings of works by Schubert, Szymanowski, and Schönberg, was released by Melodiya in 2021.
Maria Zaitseva has also competed with other performers at both the Russian and international levels, receiving the II prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2023.
Another participant in the recording and a laureate of competitions, Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev, has been performing on the professional stage since the age of five, playing in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, and the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. In 2023, Melodiya released his disc marking the 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff.
This release is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Melodiya.
