Pieter Wispelwey, Paul Komen - Brahms: Cello Sonatas Nos.1 & 2 (1993)

I have now heard two recordings of Brahms's Cello Sonatas on period instruments. The older instruments make sense in this music, which is so thickly written for the piano that the cello can easily be overwhelmed. Peter Wispelwey and Paul Komen play these pieces like the romantic outpourings they are, with plenty of gusto and as wide a dynamic range as they can get. You can still hear more power and energy in some of the best performances of this music on modern instruments, but for those who want to investigate what the music sounds like on period instruments, the disc is quite recommendable and vividly recorded. -- Leslie Gerber