Rachmaninov, Sergei- Sergei Rachmaninov the Pianist
"His playing presents a delicious paradox... individualistic almost to the point of recreation, while so utterly natural, so profoundly honest, you could hardly imagine the music otherwise. [Beethoven Variations[: tautness of playing, absolute rhythmic security, burbling pianissimos, knife-edged sforzandos, artful rubato and unremitting sense of purpose... delicate observations occur by the bar... [trans-criptions]: (Mendelssohn; Rimsky-Korsakov; Tchaikovsky): scintillating, full of musical interest. His reworking of Liebesleid is extremely beautiful. [his own music]... each sounds as if spontaneously improvised... The C sharp minor Prelude retains it's magic through perfect timing. That is perhaps where Rachmaninov remains most inimitable: it wasn't how he struck the keys that mattered, but when." (Gramophone)
Tracklist:
- Prelude C-Sharp minor (Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op.3/2) (4/1928)
- Prelude, Op.32/6 in F minor: Allegro Appassionato (3/1940)
- Beethoven: Variations on Original Theme in C minor, Woo 80 (Excerpts) (4/1924 to 5/1925)
- Chopin: Ballade No.3 in A-Flat Major, Op.47 (13/4/1925)
- Chopin: Waltz No.7 in C-Sharp minor, Op.64 No.2 (5/4/1927)
- Chopin: Waltz No.8 in A-Flat Major, Op.64 No.3 (5/4/1927)
- Mendelssohn's 'Scherzo' (A Midsummer Night's Dream Op.61) Arr. for Piano Rachmaninov, 1933 (23/12/1935)
- Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumblebee' ('The Tale of the Tsar Sultan') Arr. for Piano Rachmaninov, 1929 (4/1929)
- Tchaikovsky: Troïka (The Seasons, Op.37A X1)(11/4/1928)
- Carl Tausig: Valse-Caprice No. 2 (Nouvelle Soirées de Vienne) for Piano: 'Man Lebt Nur Einmal' (After Strauss JR, Op.167) (4/19
- Kreisler's 'Liebeslied' for Piano, TN Iii/5 (25/10/1921) (Arr. Rachmaninov 1921 from Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen No.1) V Rachmaninov:
- Moderato 9:46
- Adagio Sostenuto
- Allegro Scherzando
"His playing presents a delicious paradox... individualistic almost to the point of recreation, while so utterly natural, so profoundly honest, you could hardly imagine the music otherwise. [Beethoven Variations[: tautness of playing, absolute rhythmic security, burbling pianissimos, knife-edged sforzandos, artful rubato and unremitting sense of purpose... delicate observations occur by the bar... [trans-criptions]: (Mendelssohn; Rimsky-Korsakov; Tchaikovsky): scintillating, full of musical interest. His reworking of Liebesleid is extremely beautiful. [his own music]... each sounds as if spontaneously improvised... The C sharp minor Prelude retains it's magic through perfect timing. That is perhaps where Rachmaninov remains most inimitable: it wasn't how he struck the keys that mattered, but when." (Gramophone)
Tracklist:
- Prelude C-Sharp minor (Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op.3/2) (4/1928)
- Prelude, Op.32/6 in F minor: Allegro Appassionato (3/1940)
- Beethoven: Variations on Original Theme in C minor, Woo 80 (Excerpts) (4/1924 to 5/1925)
- Chopin: Ballade No.3 in A-Flat Major, Op.47 (13/4/1925)
- Chopin: Waltz No.7 in C-Sharp minor, Op.64 No.2 (5/4/1927)
- Chopin: Waltz No.8 in A-Flat Major, Op.64 No.3 (5/4/1927)
- Mendelssohn's 'Scherzo' (A Midsummer Night's Dream Op.61) Arr. for Piano Rachmaninov, 1933 (23/12/1935)
- Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumblebee' ('The Tale of the Tsar Sultan') Arr. for Piano Rachmaninov, 1929 (4/1929)
- Tchaikovsky: Troïka (The Seasons, Op.37A X1)(11/4/1928)
- Carl Tausig: Valse-Caprice No. 2 (Nouvelle Soirées de Vienne) for Piano: 'Man Lebt Nur Einmal' (After Strauss JR, Op.167) (4/19
- Kreisler's 'Liebeslied' for Piano, TN Iii/5 (25/10/1921) (Arr. Rachmaninov 1921 from Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen No.1) V Rachmaninov:
- Moderato 9:46
- Adagio Sostenuto
- Allegro Scherzando