Pouring rain spattered against the windows of Russell House last Sunday, providing a dramatic backdrop to the powerful music of cellist Jeffrey Lastrapes and pianist and Wesleyan Private Lessons Teacher Erika Schroth.

Undeterred by the weather, the audience filled the sumptuously furnished room, sitting right next to the players. Both Lastrapes, who currently teaches at Oklahoma State University, and Schroth, a faculty member at the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, have performed extensively throughout Europe and the U.S.

The program, part of the “Music at the Russell House” series, began with Claude Debussy’s Sonata for Violoncello and Piano in D Major. Sitting so close to the instruments, it was easy to hear the piece’s harmonious interplay of sound and texture. The staccato notes of the piano layered the longer, more singing bow-strokes of the cello in the first movement. In the third movement, the two voices echoed each other as Lastrapes attacked the fast passages with short, staccato bows.

The satisfyingly animated ending of the Debussy piece transitioned well into the virtuostic beginning of the next piece, Beethoven’s Sonata in D Major for Violoncello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 2. Lastrapes varied the sound quality of the Beethoven through dramatic variations in tempo and vibrato.

The second half of the recital was devoted to the extremely ambitious Sonata for Violoncello and Piano, Op. 19 by Sergei Rachmaninoff. More so than either of the other pieces, the Rachmaninoff created a new musical realm. The first three movements emphasized dark tones, pushing the musical tensions to a peak before resolving them. The last movement, however, left the audience with much more contented resonances.

Lastrapes plays a 1684 Ruggieri cello. Its rich tone beautifully complimented the lush melodies of the pieces played at the recital.