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This third volume of Rachmaninov’s Victor recordings contains discs he made of his own solo compositions and arrangements from the introduction of electrical recording in 1925 to a year before his death.
The works recorded were those most in demand by the public, each piece subject to Rachmaninov’s perfectionism and the version released always the best of a number of takes (for example, the recording of his famous Prelude in C sharp minor is Take 23).
Whether it be in the 1925 recording of his transcription of Kreisler’s Liebesfreud or the February 1942 recording of the same work (in which he displays a cast iron technique only a year before his death), the sheer virtuosity, utter clarity and supreme musicianship of Rachmaninov’s playing style are undiminished.
The first two releases in this series have been acclaimed for their superb remastering.
Ward Marston, producer and audio restoration engineer
Sergei Rachmaninov: Behr - Lachtaubchen, "Polka de WR"
Behr - Lachtaubchen, "Polka de WR"
Sergei Rachmaninov: Etudes-tableaux, Op. 39
Etudes-tableaux, Op. 39: No. 6 in A minor: Allegro
Sergei Rachmaninov: Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3
Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 2. Prelude in C sharp minor
Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 5. Serenade in B flat minor
Sergei Rachmaninov: 10 Preludes, Op. 23
10 Preludes, Op. 23: No. 10 in G flat major: Largo
Sergei Rachmaninov: 13 Preludes, Op. 32
No. 3 in E major: Allegro vivace
No. 7 in F major: Moderato
No. 6 in F minor: Allegro appassionato
Sergei Rachmaninov: Etudes-tableaux, Op. 33
No. 2 in C major: Allegro
No. 7 in E flat major: Allegro con fuoco
Sergei Rachmaninov: Moments musicaux, Op. 16
Moments musicaux, Op. 16: No. 2 in E flat minor: Allegretto
Sergei Rachmaninov: Oriental Sketch
Oriental Sketch
Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3
Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 3. Melodie in E major
Sergei Rachmaninov: Morceaux de salon, Op. 10
Morceaux de salon, Op. 10: No. 5. Humoresque in G major
Sergei Rachmaninov: 6 Songs, Op. 38 (version for piano)
6 Songs, Op. 38: No. 3. Daisies (version for piano)
Sergei Rachmaninov: 12 Songs, Op. 21 (version for piano)
12 Songs, Op. 21: No. 5. Lilacs (version for piano)
Sergei Rachmaninov: Bach - Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006
I. Prelude
III. Gavotte
VII. Gigue
Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61, MWV M13 (arr. S. Rachmaninov)
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61, MWV M13: I. Scherzo (arr. S. Rachmaninov for piano)
Franz Schubert: Die schone Mullerin, Op. 25, D. 795 (arr. S. Rachmaninov for piano)
Die schone Mullerin, Op. 25, D. 795: No. 1. Das Wandern (arr. S. Rachmaninov for piano)
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky: Sorochinskaya yarmarka (Sorochintsi Fair): Gopak (Hopak) (arr. S. Rachmaninov for piano)
Sorochinskaya yarmarka (Sorochintsi Fair): Gopak (Hopak) (arr. S. Rachmaninov for piano)
Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov: Tale of Tsar Saltan, Op. 57 (arr. S. Rachmaninov for piano)
Tale of Tsar Saltan, Op. 57: Flight of the Bumble-bee (arr. S. Rachmaninov for piano)
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky: 6 Romances, Op. 16: No. 1. Cradle Song (arr. S. Rachmaninov)
6 Romances, Op. 16: No. 1. Cradle Song (arr. S. Rachmaninov for piano)
Sergei Rachmaninov: Kreisler - Liebesfreud
Kreisler - Liebesfreud
Kreisler - Liebesfreud (abridged)
January 2013
“No composer or pianist has ever sounded more indelibly Russian, and never more so than in his own music...What clear relish and delight in the playful rather than melancholic capers of the Polka, what vitality and aplomb in the festive E major Prelude...this, the thrid volume of Naxos's 'Great Pianists' Rachmaninov, gives us playing beyond price.”
May 2013
*****
“Wonders galore in Rachmaninov's playing, beyond its obvious historical importance. Cast-iron technique, proper old-school sense of line and tone colour, and an incomparable rubato.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
Behr - Lachtaubchen, "Polka de WR"
