Rachmaninov for Cello, Wigmore Hall

In Rachmaninov's 150th anniversary year, Wigmore Hall is for the first time presenting a programme of his music purely for cello and piano, featuring multi award-winning cellist Yuki Ito with acclaimed pianist Sofya Gulyak.

Ito, who began playing cello aged eight, has long taken inspiration from the music of Sergei Rachmaninov – the composer who wrote his first piece for the cello while still a teenager. Together Ito and Gulyak aim to capture Rachmaninov’s melancholy, soulfulness and impassioned writing for both instruments. Their programme will include the Sérénade in B flat minor, the Prelude in G flat major, Op. 23 No. 10, and the G minor Cello Sonata, Op 19.

The lunchtime concert, on Saturday 2 June, is promoted by Avex Classics International which brings the best of Japanese talent to UK audiences.

Yuki Ito has performed with many renowned orchestras and artists including Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Geringas, Seiji Ozawa and Julian Lloyd Webber.

Sofya Gulyak was awarded first prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Sixteenth Leeds International Piano Competition – the first woman in the history of the competition to achieve this distinction. She is now a professor of the piano at the Royal College of Music.