Cellist
David Geringas, whose long and accomplished career includes having studied with
Rostropovich and a 1970 Gold Medal win in the Tchaikovsky Competition, continues to produce albums with an impressively broad repertoire. This 2009 release features
Rachmaninov's works for cello and piano, of which only one was originally written for that combination of instruments (the sonata, Op. 19). The remainder of the album showcases transcriptions (some by
Geringas himself, while some arrangements are unnamed) of many of
Rachmaninov's underappreciated vocal songs. Surprisingly,
Geringas does not execute this repertoire especially well. Intonation in the many song transcriptions is unreliable; more importantly, however, is the fact that
Geringas's sound is not particularly song-like. Instead, his tone is painfully nasal and the timbre of his instrument drastically switches from string to string. The least appealing aspect of this performance is
Geringas's choice of vibrato, which is so absurdly wide and fervent as to make a coloratura soprano envious. It is heard not only in the songs, but throughout the sonata, as well, where
Geringas abandons the concept of chamber music and leaves pianist
Ian Fountain struggling to be heard, no small feat in this sonata. While
Geringas has many fine albums on the market, this misstep is simply not among them and listeners would do well to select from other available recordings of
Rachmaninov's cello and piano works.