Unlike his two Cello Concertos, performed by Maria Kliegel on Naxos 8.553039, Saint-Sa�ns� Cello Sonatas are underrated works. The turbulent Cello Sonata No. 1, which makes full use of the lower registers of both cello and piano, reflects the composer�s sadness at the loss of a great-aunt and at the state of France following Napoleon III�s crushing defeat by Prussia at Sedan in 1870. Written more than 30 years later, the Cello Sonata No. 2 is a more ambitious and original work. �The Adagio will bring tears to your eyes,� Saint-Sa�ns wrote to his publisher, Durand, while the last movement, propelled forward in the manner of a toccata, �...will wake anyone who�s slept through the rest of the piece�