The duo of pianist Irina Nuzova and cellist Wendy Warner packed every available seat this Saturday. While late arrivals missed out on the CityPaper’s Best-rated chairs, no one sighed from discomfort. These ladies first whipped out an eloquent Myaskovski Sonata in A minor – offering daring bliss to rapt listeners.

Warner is a Rostropovich competition winner who debuted under the baton of the maestro himself, so the Myaskovski – dedicated to Rostropovich – was the apt choice. The first movement opened the soul, ending with the cello’s notes sounding alone.

Warner’s right arm struck down in an arpeggiated pizzicato with enough grace to score her a spot on the Kirov ballet. Soon, Warner was verily rocking us between her knees. Working the Allegro con spirito, it’s as if a very pleasant little demon took the stage with sass: pizzicato that sounds like saying “puttanesca” five times fast. With force, Nuzova turned her pages herself with resounding thwack – a percussive confirmation of her total control of dynamics. No demanding passage would throw her.

As proved in Alfred Schnittke’s Musica Nostalgia. The description: “mock Bach cello suites with a very drunken minuet” applies. Warner displayed fantastic control of the upper register, reining Schnittke’s clever glissandi to purpose – an act that would utterly derail a lesser wielder of the violoncello bow. The result: bending our perception out of “the safe zone” for a brief moment of audible vertigo.

Their Prokofiev Adagio gave a great show of bow arabesques – eliciting a deep “Ahhhhh” from several souls behind me sliding down in their seats.

After intermission, the ladies broke out the Rach, Sonata in G Minor. Rachmaninov performances often strike me as dressage at a musical Olympics (See Piano Concerto: Rach 3). Yet Warner and Nuzova achieved deep sincerity from Lento to Allegro Mosso. Most in evidence, the flawless connection of this duo. Nuzova’s mere blink meant “begin” and they oft shared the same breath. They rang true on Sergei’s staple: the plummet of raindrop piano trills, in this case, put up against the highest notes of the cello, like spinning gossamer. Mawkish — if not for a quick three-note piano plunk from Nuzova like a joke called across a schoolyard. Launching into one of 3 false closes, Nuzova smiled. The “linger longer” invitation intoned by the cello created an aural tunnel…there was a pause (perhaps a trifle too long)… before we come out into the sunshine triumph of Nuzova’s final notes.

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