Rachmaninov's Complete Piano Music
Rachmaninov's Complete Piano Music
The Gramophone Choice
Etudes-tableaux – Op 33; Op 39. Moments musicaux, Op 16. Morceaux de fantaisie, Op 3. Morceaux de salon, Op 10. Piano Sonatas – No 1 in D minor, Op 28; No 2 in B flat minor, Op 36 (two versions). Preludes – Op 23; Op 32; in F; in D minor. Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op 22. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op 42. Fragments. Fughetta in F. Mélodie in E, Op 3 No 3 (revised version). Morceau de fantaisie in G minor. Three Nocturnes. Oriental Sketch. Four Pieces. Pièce in D minor. Song Without Words.
Transcriptions – Bach Solo Violin Partita No 3 in E, BWV1006 – Preludio, Gavotte, Gigue Behr Lachtäubchen, Op 303 (pubd as Polka de VR) Bizet L’Arlésienne Suite No 1 – Menuet Kreisler Liebesleid. Liebesfreud Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op 61 – Scherzo Mussorgsky Sorotchinsy Fair – Gopak Rachmaninov Daisies, Op 38 No 3. Lilacs, Op 21 No 5. Vocalise, Op 34 No 14 (arr Kocsis) Rimsky‑Korsakov The Tale of Tsar Saltan – The Flight of the Bumble-bee Schubert Die schöne Müllerin, D957 – Wohin? Tchaikovsky Cradle Song, Op 16 No 1
Howard Shelley pf
Hyperion CDS44041/8 (7h 29‘ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
This Hyperion set is a significant testament to Howard Shelley’s artistry. Pianistically impeccable, he understands what Rachmaninov was about. The original piano works span 45 years of the composer’s life. The earliest pieces here, the Nocturnes, strangely owe allegiance neither to Field nor Chopin, but are very much in the mid- to late-19th-century Russian salon style. The Third, in C minor, has nothing whatever to do with its title. Nicely written too, but still uncharacteristic, are four pieces from 1888, which amply demonstrate that from his early teens the composer had something individual to say. The Mélodie in E major is memorable for its hypnotic use of piano tone. Hyperion’s recording quality can be heard at its very best here; there’s real bloom and colour. Written shortly after his First Piano Concerto in the early 1890s, the Morceaux de fantaisie, Op 3, bring us to familiar Rachmaninov. The ubiquitous Prelude in C sharp minor is the second number but Shelley tries to do too much with it; he’s more effective in the Sérénade with its Spanish overtones. In the E flat minor Moment musical, Op 16, one feels that he’s able to master Rachmaninov’s swirling accompaniments idiomatically. In Variation 15 of the Variations on a Theme of Chopin he succeeds in bringing the notes to life, getting his fingers around the fleet scherzando writing.
The first set of Preludes is mainstream repertoire. In the warmly expressive D major Prelude he lends the piece a strong Brahmsian feel and it emerges as very well focused. He transforms the C minor into a restless mood picture. The First Sonata is often dismissed as being unwieldy but Shelley gives it a symphonic stature and allows it to be seen in conjunction more with the composer’s orchestral writing. Shortly after the Third Concerto Rachmaninov wrote the Op 32 Preludes. Shelley conjures up an exquisite moonlit scene for the G major, but he’s not as impressive in the B minor. However, with him it’s always the music that dictates the course of the interpretation. In the two sets of Etudes-tableaux he excels, as he does too in the Second Sonata. He draws together the disparate elements of the finale with terrific mastery and is the equal of the ‘Horowitz clones’ for technique. In the Corelli Variations he’s not quite in tune with the scope of the work but is outstanding in the transcriptions, if a little straight-faced. The recorded sound is never less than serviceable and is sometimes excellent.
