Dialogues Noémie Raymond & Zhenni Li-Cohen

• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943): Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19:
• 1 Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: I. Lento - Allegro moderato 14:00
• 2 Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: II. Allegro scherzando 07:14
• 3 Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: III. Andante 06:06
• 4 Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: IV. Allegro mosso 11:55
• Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979): Viola Sonata (Version for Cello & Piano):
• 5 Clarke: Viola Sonata (Version for Cello & Piano): I. Impetuoso. Poco agitato 08:56
• 6 Clarke: Viola Sonata (Version for Cello & Piano): II. Vivace 04:14
• 7 Clarke: Viola Sonata (Version for Cello & Piano): III. Adagio 12:07
• Total Runtime 01:04:32

Info for Dialogues

Dialogues by cellist Noemie Raymond and pianist Zhenni Li-Cohen present two monumental works composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Rebecca Clarke. The album centers around a pair of sonatas that the performers hold dear. It seeks to bridge two universes in conversations between two instruments, two musicians, and two composers. The performers write, "it is a dialogue between you and us."

This album explores the duality of two titanic masterpieces, from the pen of a woman and a man, both virtuoso instrumentalists with strikingly distinct musical voices. Dialogues begins with Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19, composed during his most prolific period alongside his famous Piano Concerto No. 2. Considered by some to be his most successful chamber work, Rachmaninoff dedicated the sonata to Anatoly Brandukov, his best man at his wedding and a celebrated Russian cellist who also premiered several of Tchaikovsky's works. Brandukov inspired Rachmaninoff to imbue the cello line with expressiveness and intensity. The album continues with Clarke's Viola Sonata (Version for Cello & Piano), composed in 1919. An internationally renowned violist, Clarke is often considered a proponent of "English Impressionism." Despite placing second in a prestigious composition competition, Clarke's works were not celebrated or performed as much as those of her male peers due to societal gender biases. It was not until the 1970s that Clarke emerged from obscurity, and this Sonata has since taken it's rightful place in the standard repertoire for viola.

Noémie Raymond, cello
Zhenni Li-Cohen, piano

Noémie Raymond
Destined to “leave her mark on posterity through her immense sensitivity and immeasurable talent” (Journal des Citoyens), cellist Noémie Raymond-Friset enjoys a diversified international career that has led her to perform as a chamber musician and soloist with renowned orchestras. From London’s Royal Albert Hall to the Festival Internacional de Musica de Camara in Lima, her “passionate, hypersensitive and refined” playing has taken her to four continents, including performances with violinists Midori Goto and Pinchas Zukerman.

Recognized as one of the “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30” by CBC, Noémie is also an accomplished and experienced educator.

Holder of a Doctorate in performance and literature of the prestigious Eastman School of Music, she is a cello and chamber music mentor for the Heifetz International Music Institute’s junior program and teaches at the Festival del Lago in Mexico. She also acted as director of operations, development and communications at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival.

She has won several prizes in national and international competitions. She has also distinguished herself as a scholarship recipient on several occasions and as a laureate of the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank competition.

Noémie plays the beautiful Matteo Goffriller “Ex-Curtis” cello (1700) generously on loan to her by Canimex Inc. of Drummondville (Quebec).

Zhenni Li-Cohen
Li-Cohen’s riveting presence and passionate performances have brought audiences to their feet around the world. Hailed for her “torrents of voluptuous sound...Li-Cohen impresses as an artist of tremendous conviction, who fascinates even as she provokes“ by Gramophone Magazine, “a thrillingly good pianist” by The New Yorker and for her "...big, gorgeous tone and a mesmerizing touch" by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ms. Li-Cohen has performed in such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and WQXR’s Greene Space in New York, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia’s Kimmel Performing Arts Center, San Jose’s California Theater, the Helsinki Music Center in Finland, the Grieghallen in Norway and the Berliner Philharmonie in Germany.

Upcoming engagements include concerti appearances with the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, Bucks County, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Dominican Republic National Orchestra, Fairbanks, Johns Hopkins, Lower Merion, Knoxville, Waterloo-Cedar Fall Symphony Orchestras. Deeply committed to the art of recording, Ms. Li-Cohen is passionate about memorializing lesser known works and sharing them with a greater audience as well as traversing the heights of the familiar giants of the repertoire and recently released her second album for the Steinway & Sons label featuring works by Sergei Bortkiewicz (A Letter), reviewed by Gramophone Magazine as “the most consistently beautiful Bortkiewicz recording in the catalogue” and “a must-add to your listening list” by American Record Guide; her third and fourth albums featuring Beethoven (Beethoven’s Apotheosis), and traditional Chinese works (Legend of the Phoenix Queen) are upcoming, in addition to a recording project with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop.

Booklet for Dialogues