Felix Mendelssohn's love for the cello was famed, and accordingly it was well-represented in his body of work. These works for cello and piano show the wide variation that resulted from a career-long affair with the instrument, ranging from youthful enthusiasm in the Variations Concertantes to the maturity and profundity of the much later second Cello Sonata. Notably this is the first CD recording of the powerful "Stauffer - ex Christiani" Stradivari cello, known for it's enormity of sonority and expression and wielded expertly by Luca Fiorentini.