Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Started by Chaszz, December 10, 2009, 04:35:52 PM

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SonicMan46

Solo Piano Works - own 6 CDs of Rach's piano music w/ some overlap - quoted below is a list of his Opus numbered 'solo piano works', of course he wrote much non-Opus pieces, works for multiple pianists/pianos, transcriptions, etc. The '*' are the works that I own - Richter's disc has partial works from 4 Opus numbers w/ some duplication w/ the last two shown below.

Shelley did an 8-disc 'complete' box for Hyperion (pricey) - reviews of all below attached, if interested.  Any other 'complete' sets or specific recordings of these solo works that standout?  Dave :)

QuoteOp.  3 - Morceaux de fantaisie - 5 pieces
Op. 10 - Morceaux de salon - 10 pieces*
Op. 16 - Six moments musicaux - 6 pieces*
Op. 22 - Variations on a Theme of Chopin
Op. 23 - Ten Preludes - 10 pieces*
Op. 28 - Piano Sonata No. 1*
Op. 32 - Thirteen Preludes - 13 pieces*
Op. 33 - Etudes-Tableaux - 8 pieces*
Op. 36 - Piano Sonata No. 2*
Op. 39 - Etudes-Tableaux - 9 pieces*
Op. 42 - Variations on a Theme of Corelli (Source)

   

   

Madiel

No Ashkenazy? His Etudes-Tableaux are one of my favourite things on disc.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

SonicMan46

Quote from: Madiel on May 25, 2022, 09:17:15 AM
No Ashkenazy? His Etudes-Tableaux are one of my favourite things on disc.

Well, everyone will have their favorites - Martin Cousin is quite special in these pieces (just one closing remark from one of the reviews I left on Cousin - "Among other distinguished versions of these works, Cousin's playing is more colorful than that of Howard Shelley (Hyperion) and more refined than that of Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca)." I actually culled out Ashkenazy after obtaining and listening to Cousin (and needed the space, always an issue for me).  Plus, Richter does some of these works from both Opus numbers.  Dave :)

aukhawk

#563
The Symphonic Dances arranged for two pianos by the composer is a lot of fun.  Can be found on this twofer played by Messrs Ashkenazy and Previn.
[edit - I checked the booklet for any hint about which pianist is left, which is right - but no clue.   :-\


Music for 2 pianos inc. Symphonic Dances; Ashkenazy, Previn

Florestan

Quote from: Florestan on May 26, 2022, 12:58:23 AM


This is very good. If you can put up with the less than ideal sound (quote pronounced hiss) it's actually a real sleeper.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

aukhawk

#565
I dunno about sleeper - it's been my preferred recording of the 3rd concerto for all of my music-loving life.  (My preferred 2nd has always been Richter/Wislocki)

Jo498

Janis/Dorati was probably my first Rachmaninoff disc (normal 1990s CD, not SACD, hybrid or so). The hiss is much worse in one of the concertos, I think #2, as the recordings were made in different halls with different orchestras and probably slightly different technical setups?
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

George

#567
Quote from: SonicMan46 on May 25, 2022, 08:59:04 AM
Solo Piano Works - own 6 CDs of Rach's piano music w/ some overlap - quoted below is a list of his Opus numbered 'solo piano works', of course he wrote much non-Opus pieces, works for multiple pianists/pianos, transcriptions, etc. The '*' are the works that I own - Richter's disc has partial works from 4 Opus numbers w/ some duplication w/ the last two shown below.

Shelley did an 8-disc 'complete' box for Hyperion (pricey) - reviews of all below attached, if interested.  Any other 'complete' sets or specific recordings of these solo works that standout?  Dave

Hi Dave,

For the complete Etudes, my favorite is Angelich: amazon link

For the complete Preludes, Ashkenazy: amazon link

"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

George

Quote from: aukhawk on May 26, 2022, 01:52:59 AM
I dunno about sleeper - it's been my preferred recording of the 3rd concerto for all of my music-loving life.  (My preferred 2nd has always been Richter/Wislocki)

Same here! (on all counts)
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Florestan

Quote from: ultralinear on May 26, 2022, 05:35:15 AM
this (excellent, affordable) set:



Fantastic Etudes-Tableaux by Zlata Chochieva in that very worthwile box.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

SonicMan46

Quote from: George on May 26, 2022, 04:47:51 AM
Hi Dave,
For the complete Etudes, my favorite is Angelich: amazon link
For the complete Preludes, Ashkenazy: amazon link

Quote from: ultralinear on May 26, 2022, 05:35:15 AM
Some time ago I did something like a 10-way comparison of Preludes recordings, and what I kept coming back to was Rodriguez:
...........................
These can sometimes be a bit hard to find, though the 2nd Sonata and Corelli Variations did reappear in this (excellent, affordable) set:


Quote from: Florestan on May 26, 2022, 05:49:54 AM
Fantastic Etudes-Tableaux by Zlata Chochieva in that very worthwile box.

Thanks All for the comments - appears that most have their favorite pianists and interpretations of Rach's solo piano works, including myself - BUT I was intrigued by the fairly new Brilliant Box w/ multiple pianists - 8-discs for $23 on Amazon Prime - seems like a great choice for 1-stop shopping!  Attached are the few reviews I could find but quite good - I'll be curious to hear from others who may have heard and/or own this box?  Thanks.  Dave :)

 

Roasted Swan

Quote from: SonicMan46 on May 26, 2022, 06:56:25 AM
Thanks All for the comments - appears that most have their favorite pianists and interpretations of Rach's solo piano works, including myself - BUT I was intrigued by the fairly new Brilliant Box w/ multiple pianists - 8-discs for $23 on Amazon Prime - seems like a great choice for 1-stop shopping!  Attached are the few reviews I could find but quite good - I'll be curious to hear from others who may have heard and/or own this box?  Thanks.  Dave :)

 

If you don't mind fairly low bit-rate downloads consider this "set";



https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002ZF9A5E/ref=dm_rwp_pur_lnd_albm_pm

Just £1.49 in the UK and no doubt even less in the US!  AWFUL cover art but dig a little deeper and this is a treasure trove of fine performances - quite a few in that Brilliant Box;

Nikolai Lugansky - both sets of Etudes Tableaux - very good
Santiago Rodriguez - both sets of Piano Preludes
Santiago Rodriguez - both piano sonatas
Santiago Rodrigues - Morceaux de Fantasie Op.3 & 3 Nocturnes
Michael Ponti - Morceaux de Salon Op.10

There are 2 historical piano concerti in very rough sound and the main "missing" repertoire are the sets of variations.  But other than that this is a no-brainer for exciting Rachmaninoff(ov) piano playing.......




Roasted Swan

Another hidden bargain.  Check out this old Reader's Digest box;



Under the unpromising bonnet hides the same Wild/Horenstein Nos.2 & 4 and the Paganini Rhapsody plus a great Horenstein/RPO Isle of the Dead and the ex-Nimbus Otaka/BBC NOW Symphony No.2 plus a couple of very unusual/fun orchestrations - for example the Valse Romantique from the 2nd two piano suite gets a scintillating performance.  On UK Amazon at the moment this 3 CD set for around £6 delivered......

staxomega

#573
Quote from: Roasted Swan on May 24, 2022, 12:58:42 PM
Litton is excellent.  Petrenko gets a lot of love (which I don't actually share much).  If you don't mind downloads there is an interesting very cheap option here;

https://www.classicselectworld.com/collections/digital-downloads/products/rachmaninov-complete-orchestral-works



for 99p(!)

mainly Kogan but some Svetlanov........

I ran to mash the buy button after hearing Petrenko in Isle of the Dead. I don't even know what else is on that CD because I've only listened to Isle of the Dead on it so many times ;D I find it just as good as Reiner and Svetlanov in how dark and brooding it is.

I've been listening to a ton of Rachmaninoff this year. I really wanted to love Nézet-Séguin in the first symphony, as I've heard Philly a couple of times and they still have that special sound. But I found it lacking in the maniacal menace of the best ones (ie Ashkenazy).

The other work I did a big comparison was Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Reiner remains my favorite though Rafael Orozco was also phenomenal. Sudbin/Lan Shui/Singapore and the coupled Symphony 3 were once again a bit bland. Khatchen/Boult - there was something strange about this interpretation, like there wasn't much interplay with the orchestra and piano almost as if it had been overdubbed. Stephen Hough was the big surprise who plays the piano concerti very much like Rachmaninoff, these kind of tempi aren't really my reach for often, but still quite interesting. The sound quality is significantly better than Rachmaninoff's recordings. I would be really interested in knowing if Rachmaninoff's recordings influenced him or not.

Etudes-Tableaux - I find Richter and Lugansky play in a league of their own, but the Richter Olympia CD is not complete. The Lugansky would very easily make my top 100 favorite classical albums of all time. Recently I listened to Steven Osborne (posted about it a few pages ago) and know Angelich and these more buttoned up/generic or "French" takes on the music is too polite and not idiomatic. I noticed Hurwitz had Osborne in the Preludes as one of his favorite albums, and this style is fairly similar his Etudes-Tableaux. Boris Giltburg is a really fine choice, more in the idiomatic Russian style, but he is bit precious in places with the rubato. They're no where near as affected as his late Beethoven Piano Sonatas. I suspect I will pick up both of these discs.

Will post something about the Cello Sonata as I saw Gautier Capuçon and Jean-Yves Thibaudet a few weeks, which caused me to hear both of his recordings of the Cello Sonata along with several others.

Quote from: SonicMan46 on May 25, 2022, 08:59:04 AM
Shelley did an 8-disc 'complete' box for Hyperion (pricey) - reviews of all below attached, if interested.  Any other 'complete' sets or specific recordings of these solo works that standout?  Dave :)

I wouldn't lose any sleep on the Shelley being pricey (out of print?), he might be the most bland pianist recording today. He achieves the monumental task of making even Liszt sound dull.

Florestan

Quote from: hvbias on May 27, 2022, 10:05:21 AM
I wouldn't lose any sleep on the Shelley being pricey (out of print?), he might be the most bland pianist recording today. He achieves the monumental task of making even Liszt sound dull.

Liszt is dull in a whole lot of his oeuvre, not matter who plays it. Just saying.  ;D

FWIW, Shelley's Op. 23 / 5 Rachmaninoff Prelude is the best I've ever heard so far.  :D

Unbelievable how tastes can differ so widely, ain't it? 8)

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

staxomega

Quote from: Florestan on May 27, 2022, 11:21:44 AM
Liszt is dull in a whole lot of his oeuvre, not matter who plays it. Just saying.  ;D

FWIW, Shelley's Op. 23 / 5 Rachmaninoff Prelude is the best I've ever heard so far.  :D

I was going by Liszt's works that would be recorded frequently like Années de pèlerinage, Transcendental Etudes, etc. But even in those works seldom or never recorded I got a feel for how he plays Liszt through that massive Hyperion box.

Quote
Unbelievable how tastes can differ so widely, ain't it? 8)

True, but I'm almost certain we're more often on the same page than not from seeing performances you like. Here it's because I have no recollection of how Shelley sounds in that particular piece, which is more down to my memory. I will revisit them, I like the Preludes, but it's both sets of Etudes-Tableaux (particularly op. 39) that are among my favorites in the piano repertoire.

Florestan

Quote from: hvbias on May 27, 2022, 11:35:09 AM
I was going by Liszt's works that would be recorded frequently like Années de pèlerinage, Transcendental Etudes, etc. But even in those works seldom or never recorded I got a feel for how he plays Liszt through that massive Hyperion box.

Ummm... I believe you mistake Howard Shelley for Leslie Howard. It's the latter who recorded the complete Liszt piano works on a 99-CD Hyperion megabox. :D

QuoteI'm almost certain we're more often on the same page than not from seeing performances you like.

Likewise.   8)
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

staxomega

Quote from: Florestan on May 27, 2022, 11:44:52 AM
Ummm... I believe you mistake Howard Shelley for Leslie Howard. It's the latter who recorded the complete Liszt piano works on a 99-CD Hyperion megabox. :D

Likewise.   8)

Holy shit, I actually did. My sincere apologies to Howard Shelley  ??? These old English Hyperion pianists all start to blend together at some point. Now I'm sure me not remembering Howard Shelley in Rachmaninoff is due to my memory and not anything on him.

Florestan

Quote from: hvbias on May 27, 2022, 11:52:14 AM
Holy shit, I actually did. My sincere apologies to Howard Shelley  ??? These old English Hyperion pianists all start to blend together at some point. Now I'm sure me not remembering Howard Shelley in Rachmaninoff is due to my memory and not anything on him.

I knew it...  ;)

Howard Shelley is actually a very interesting pianist. His specialty seems to be Classical piano concertos, of which he has recorded 8 remarkable volumes on the self-same Hyperion label. His complete Hummel piano concertos series on Chandos is also a gem.

That being said, his complete Rachmaninoff solo piano music on Hyperion, coupled with the complete concertos on Chandos (Scottish National Orchestra, Bryden Thompson) are excellent.

And --- Leslie Howard might not be the best Liszztian out there but he is to be heartily commended and highly praised for his labour of love, ie recording all that Liszt wrote for piano solo or piano and orchestra. After all, what do you prefer: a Liszt work not being recorded at all, or it being recorded in a meh performance?  :D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Madiel

It not being recorded at all is cheaper...
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!