April 15, 2010 London Vernon Ellis Hall PROGRAMME Beethoven Sonata for cello and piano in G minor Op. 5 Debussy Sonata for cello and piano in D minor Rachmaninov Sonata for cello and piano in G minor Op.19 VICTOR YORAN Victor Yoran was born in Moscow in 1938. Rostropovitch heard him play and insisted on becoming his teacher for the next fourteen years. He won a number of important prizes in the Tchaikovsky and Prague Competitions. Yoran left the USSR whilst on a cultural exchange to Vienna. He has played with many conductors, including Vladimir Askenazy. Yoran plays on an antique cello made in 1700 by Giovanni Grancino. ELENA SMOLJANSKI Elena Smoljanski was born and graduated in St Petersburg and then worked at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Cinema and at the Maly Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Michaelovsky Theatre) in St Petersburg. She studied with a pupil of the eminent teacher Heinrich Neuhaus. She has played in many European capitals.
