Upcoming release November 2026: RESURGENCE – the first complete recordings of Leokadiya Kashperovas cello sonatas op. 1 with Søren Rastogi. The album will be released on OUR Recordings.

Resurgence

Cellist Janne Fredens & pianist Søren Rastogi
Release November 13, 2026

Leokadiya Kashperova (1872–1940) was a brilliant Russian composer and pianist whose music once captivated audiences across Europe. As teacher and mentor to the young Igor Stravinsky, she also helped shape one of the twentieth century’s most influential composers. Celebrated in her lifetime, Kashperova and her music were largely forgotten after the Russian Revolution. Today, her rediscovery reveals an original and compelling musical voice that deserves to be heard again.

Already acclaimed as a prize-winning pianist, Kashperova launched her composing career with two cello sonatas of remarkable confidence and originality. Published as her Opus 1, they combine intensely poetic cello writing with a piano part of dazzling brilliance and technical ambition. Echoes of Brahms, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and her teacher Anton Rubinstein are transformed through Kashperova’s distinctive imagination. Bridging the musical worlds of Rubinstein and Rachmaninov, the sonatas bring fresh energy, emotional depth and individuality to the Romantic repertoire.

Cellist Janne Fredens and pianist Søren Rastogi were immediately captivated by the sonatas’ melodic richness, emotional power and imaginative writing. Kashperova’s soaring melodic lines allow the cello to sing, while the virtuosic piano part rivals Rachmaninov in brilliance and intensity. Through patient musical detective work, the two performers uncovered the subtle motifs and disciplined structures beneath the music’s passionate surface. With few previous performances to guide them, they embraced experimentation and interpretative risk, revealing the sonatas’ vivid colours, dramatic contrasts and remarkable emotional range, and affirming Kashperova’s rightful place on the international concert stage.

https://www.ourrecordings.com/albums/upheaval

Upheaval

Exceptional cello/piano duo music from 1911-1918 by 4 female composers
Release 19th January 2024

“UPHEAVAL” is an exceptional project in several aspects. First, it presents four compositions for cello and piano written by female composers from the first part of the 20th century, challenging the cultural norms of the day and secondly, the title “Upheaval”, also refers to the tumultuous period around the First World War.
The works featured on this recording are Henriëtta Bosmansʼ Sonata for Cello and Piano (1919), Dora Pejačevićʼs Sonata for Cello and Piano (1913), Nadia Boulangerʼs Trois pièces (1914), and Lili Boulangerʼs Nocturne (1911), were all written over an eight-year period in France, the Netherlands, and Croatia. Henriëtte Bosmans was one of Hollandʼs greatest pianists, and a composer of great distinction as her sweeping, early Cello Sonata proves. Countess Maria Theodora Paulina (Dora) Pejačević is rightfully considered the matri- arch of Croatian composers. Her Cello Sonata, Opus 35 embodies late romanticism, with influences of Mendels- sohn, Brahms and Dvorak particularly evident. The program concludes with works from two amazing sisters: Nadia (1887–1979) and Lili Boulanger (1893–1918). Both were pioneers in their fields (Lili was the First Woman to win the coveted Prix de Rome, and Nadia, for teaching about every major post-war composer) and were for many years, two of the best-known women in music in the twentieth century.
The artists, the husband-and-wife cello/piano duo of Janne Fredens (cello) and Søren Rastogi (piano) approach this program with a sense of profound commitment and mission, recognizing that there performances of such unfamiliar repertoire may well serve as a benchmark for future artists. Both are active soloists and teach at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus. The chosen instrument for the recording is the Bechstein Gran Piano to match the beautiful tone of Janneʼs cello, and to give an impression of the periods piano sound.
This is a highly recommended recording for fans of unfamiliar chamber music, advocates for women composers
hear glorious music played by great musicians with passion and commitment.

Listen to the music here:

https://naxos-nordic.lnk.to/Upheaval

YouTube videos:

Listen to Janne Fredens in A. Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango here

Listen to Janne Fredens in R. Schumann: Adagio and Allegro here

Listen to Janne Fredens in Piazzolla: Oblivion here

Listen to Janne Fredens in Elgar: Cello Concerto, 2nd movement here