In his second solo recital disc for Signum, this release demonstrates Alessio Bax’s dazzling skill and flair in performance and interpretation – this time with Rachmaninov’s piano works. The programme is centered around the Preludes Op.23, but takes in a broad selection of his other studies, etudes, melodies and transcriptions. Bax describes the programme as being a collection of ‘Visions and Landscapes’.
31st July 2011
“He writes in the sleeve notes of a long-held desire to record Rachmaninov and [in the Vocalise] you feel he totally understands the composer's unique harmonic world. It's worth acquiring the CD for this track alone.”
September 2011
*****
“[Bax] has technique to burn but also has the unteachable ability to tug at the heart strings...In the transcriptions, Bax pays particular attention to the intricate weaving of separate voices, and is truly affecting in his own arrangement of Vocalise. This is one of the most intelligent and engrossing Rachmaninov recitals of recent years.”
Awards Issue 2011
“With this intricate and enterprising recital, the wondrously gifted Alessio Bax fulfils, in his own words, a long-cherished dream...he finds all of the composer's dark-hued melancholy, playing with an impeccable sense of vocal line and with an intense and stylish rubato...if his Op. 23 Preludes lack the classic quality of, say, Lympany or Osborne, his vividness and personality weaven their own intoxicationg spell.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
