Composed in 1934, almost concurrent the Congress of Soviet Writers declaration of "Socialist Realism" as the only acceptable mode for Soviet artistic production, the Cello Sonata gives proof of Shostakovich's struggle to maintain his intellectual integrity, which made him such a model for later generations - as he was for Mieczyslaw "Moisse" Vainberg and Boris Tchaikovsky, both of whom died in February 1996. Shostakovich maintained both of them, his composition pupil Tchaikovsky as well as his indirect pupil Vainberg, to be extraordinarily talented. This CD is a special contribution to the 100th anniversary of Shostakovich's birthday in 2006, and at the same time a remembrance of Vainberg's and Tchaikovsky's deaths ten years ago.