Rachmaninov: Preludes Op. 23 Nos. 1-10 (complete)

“…outstanding Rachmaninov playing of acute perception, discretion and poetic sensibility, limpid, powerful and luminous in equal measure.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2009 *****

“It's all too easy to coarsen Rachmaninov's melodic genius with an overtly applied emotionalism, its clearly drawn lines becoming smudged. But Osborne conveys both the monumentality of these pieces, even the most fleeting, and their very human qualities. ...while there's no empty barn-storming on display here, that's not to say the technical challenges are shirked or underplayed in any way. There are few pianists who offer such range and depth of palette: not even Ashkenazy's seminal reading.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2009

“His dazzling technique illuminates the virtuosic allegro and allegretto sections, and his playing has a Rachmaninovian pliancy and beautifully achieved rubato in lyrical passages. One of the piano discs of the year.” Sunday Times, 17th May 2009 ****

“Osborne's skill and imagination combine to bring fresh perspectives to the well-known pieces and an absorbing range of expressivity to those that remain underplayed…” Daily Telegraph, 4th May 2009 *****

“These are wonderfully natural performances: the best on disc since Vladimir Ashkenazy's set from the 1970s, with Osborne always alert to the variegated surfaces of the music, yet mindful of the deeper currents that run beneath. His sound is perfectly judged, never overbearing in even the heftiest passages, and translucent enough to allow the inner lines, which often in Rachmaninov have an expressive life all their own, to be heard. A lovely disc.” The Guardian, 1st May 2009 *****

“A quick dip into Rachmaninov’s scattered recordings from this repertoire finds the composer boxed in, not just by ancient recording technology but by his own circumspection. Osborne, by comparison, flies free without ever rampaging. Sorrow and sunlight, death and life: all Rachmaninov is here, in three dimensions, luscious colour and widescreen. A most exciting release.” The Times, 24th April 2009 ****

“This sensational pianist is usually associated with Messiaen or Tippett. Here, playing a Steinway, he brings his technical wizardry and, above all, his penetrating musical intelligence to these much-recorded works of Rachmaninov. There's no indulgence and no piano bashing. In his combination of modesty, inner fire and natural virtuosity he brings to mind that other Rachmaninov master, Ashkenazy.” The Observer, 19th April 2009

“Ashkenazy's account of Rachmaninov's preludes has much competition these days, but it's still a rewarding performance. There's an exciting depth to Ashkenazy's tone, the layering of colours is beautifully managed and the atmosphere expertly combines poetry and logic.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2007 ****

“'Perhaps what strikes home most of all is the sheer aristocracy of his playing ... everything is beautifully moulded and proportioned, beautifully balanced and blended. The sonority he draws from the instrument is poetry itself, as for instance the liquid stream of Op.23 nos.8 & 9. His effortlessly strong, brilliant technique is of course an enormous asset in bolder challenges like Op.23 no.2 ... at all times his phrasing suggests acute susceptibility, yet sentiment never degenerates into sentimentality and nothing would have pleased Rachmanimnov more than that. The C sharp minor Prelude is so often murdered that it is a revelation to hear it done with such a fine blend of the imperious and the mysterious; it emerges here as a little masterpiece.” Gramophone Magazine

“Nebolsin is a Russian pianist with all of the technical skills necessary to handle this difficult music. More important is his musical ability to make far more of the Preludes than a mere splattering of notes and empty bravura” American Record Guide

“undoubtedly a fluent pianist” Gramophone Magazine

“magnetically compelling. His control of colouring and dynamics is superb” BBC Music Magazine