Rachmaninov: Prince Rostislav (symphonic poem for large orchestra)

This is the sixth volume in our highly acclaimed Rachmaninoff series, performed by the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda. Of Symphony No. 1 on a previous volume in this series (CHAN10475), BBC Music magazine said: ‘Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic have the work’s measure and their performance has a full-blooded intensity and fire.’ The series has been well received by the public and reviewers alike, and many of the recorded works will be performed by Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic at this year’s Proms.

Symphony No. 3 is the most expressively Russian of all Rachmaninoff’s symphonies, particularly in the dance rhythms of the energetic finale. Rachmaninoff wrote the symphony for the Philadelphia Orchestra, having spoken fondly of the ensemble, calling it ‘my very favourite orchestra’. The premiere was conducted by the charismatic Leopold Stokowski, but reviews were mixed – leaning towards the negative – and it was not until the re-evaluation of Rachmaninoff’s works in the 1970s that this symphony finally got the recognition that it deserves.

Rarely recorded and performed today, the symphonic poem Prince Rostislav is one of Rachmaninoff’s earliest surviving compositions for orchestra. Based on a short ballad by Alexey Tolstoy, the highly atmospheric and evocative music speaks of the ill-fated Prince of Kiev who was tragically drowned in the Ukrainian river Dniepr.

Equally unfamiliar is Capriccio bohémien, the colourful fantasy by Rachmaninoff on a gypsy theme, which takes much of its inspiration from one of the composer’s other works, the opera Aleko, based on Pushkin’s The Gypsies.

This series of live recordings was made at the 2007 Rachmaninov Festival in Sydney and features one of the foremost interpreters of Rachmaninov’s music, the conductor and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy. Since 2008 Ashkenazy has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the orchestra which appeared in these performances, the Sydney Symphony. This CD set, which contains all of the composer’s symphonies and orchestral works, also includes session recordings produced at the same time which have never been previously heard.

Rachmaninov himself stated “In my own compositions, no conscious effort has been made to be original or Romantic or Nationalistic or anything else. I write down on paper the music that I hear within me as naturally as possible. What I try to do in my music is to make it say simply and directly what is in my heart when I am composing.”

In the years since Vladimir Ashkenazy first came to prominence on the world stage in the 1955 Chopin Competition in Warsaw he has not only become one of the most revered pianists of our times, but also a renowned music director and conductor. Conducting has formed the largest part of his activities for the past 20 years and, following on from his period as Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003, Ashkenazy took up the position of Music Director of NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo in September 2004. He continues to have a warm and rewarding relationship with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra as their Conductor Laureate, as well as maintaining strong links with a number of other major orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Berlin.

Sergey Rachmaninoff was the ultimate romantic composer. Being a pianist himself he had a special affinity with the piano. Listen to his 4 piano concertos, the Paganini Rhapsody and two Études tableaux. Also on these CD’s the Vespers, The Isle of the dead, the Bells, and several other orchestral works.