Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

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

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

vers la flamme

Thoughts on that Brilliant box of the complete piano music? Thinking of picking it up as I do not yet have all of Rachmaninov's piano music.

staxomega

#581
Quote from: Florestan on May 27, 2022, 12:04:40 PM
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

Thanks, I imagine I have some of his recordings on that Romantic Piano Concertos series. I've never heard any of Hummel's piano concertos (good chance any of his music), so I will look into it, thank you. And I will revisit the Rachmaninoff as well, op. 23/5 prelude is a delightful work.

You are correct, I was unduly harsh on Leslie Howard, that is no doubt a labor of love and passion to commit to something of that scale.

Florestan

Quote from: hvbias on May 27, 2022, 04:48:41 PM
Thanks, I imagine I have some of his recordings on that Romantic Piano Concertos series. I've never heard any of Hummel's piano concertos (good chance any of his music), so I will look into it, thank you. And I will revisit the Rachmaninoff as well, op. 23/5 prelude is a delightful work.

Actually, the Hummel series is played not by Howard Shelley but by Stephen Hough. Seem like mistaking one pianist for another might be contagious sometimes.  :D

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

staxomega

#583
Quote from: Florestan on May 28, 2022, 04:07:42 AM
Actually, the Hummel series is played not by Howard Shelley but by Stephen Hough. Seem like mistaking one pianist for another might be contagious sometimes.  :D

Contagious indeed, because you were actually correct that some of the Hummel series was played by Howard Shelley  :laugh: Stephen Hough as well. I listened to the second with Dmitry Shiskin/Pletnev on Youtube, and this is delightful music. I'll add these to my explore pile.

I listened to a bunch of Howard Shelley's Rachmaninoff as well. It's interesting, I don't hear it as idiomatically Russian but it's not faceless either. I intermixed it with Steven Osborne playing the Preludes, Shelley is expressive in his use of rubato and phrasing, clearly playing it like the deeply romantic music that it is. I did end up buying the box for quite cheap, it will be nice to have another intégrale from a singular voice that is quite different to what I'm used to.

bhodges

From the comments elsewhere on social media, Yunchan Lim (18 years old, from South Korea) deserves the top prize at the Van Cliburn competition. Here is his Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto, with Marin Alsop and the Fort Worth Symphony, posted earlier today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPJL488cfRw

--Bruce

Symphonic Addict

A work that has enthralled me for long has been Three Russian Songs for chorus and orchestra, Op. 41. Incredibly beautiful and very Russian indeed. The first one is with male choir, the 2nd one with female choir and the last one contains all the forces. It's not as widely recorded as his other music with orchestra, and it doesn't exceed a quarter of an hour in length.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Cato

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on July 10, 2022, 04:08:41 PM

A work that has enthralled me for long has been Three Russian Songs for chorus and orchestra, Op. 41. Incredibly beautiful and very Russian indeed. The first one is with male choir, the 2nd one with female choir and the last one contains all the forces. It's not as widely recorded as his other music with orchestra, and it doesn't exceed a quarter of an hour in length.


Amen!  I heard this work many moons ago and was quite taken by both the form and the richness of its invention!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Mirror Image

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on July 10, 2022, 04:08:41 PM
A work that has enthralled me for long has been Three Russian Songs for chorus and orchestra, Op. 41. Incredibly beautiful and very Russian indeed. The first one is with male choir, the 2nd one with female choir and the last one contains all the forces. It's not as widely recorded as his other music with orchestra, and it doesn't exceed a quarter of an hour in length.

I love this piece, too, Cesar. If you get the chance give a listen to the Polyansky performance on Chandos. It's magnificent!

Brian

Does anybody know, or can anybody point me to information about, who exactly started cutting the Symphony No. 2 for performance, what the occasion was, and how many competing cut versions exist?

George

Quote from: Brian on August 07, 2022, 06:26:14 AM
Does anybody know, or can anybody point me to information about, who exactly started cutting the Symphony No. 2 for performance, what the occasion was, and how many competing cut versions exist?

Hi Brian,

Just found this:

https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/discover/archives/stories/from-score-to-sound/
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Roasted Swan

Quote from: George on August 07, 2022, 06:33:41 AM
Hi Brian,

Just found this:

https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/discover/archives/stories/from-score-to-sound/

VERY interesting!  So why and on what authority does the "original/uncut" version now take primacy since according to that article Rachmaninov was sure it was too long well before the 1st recording.....!?  I love the complete version.  A great example of how tricky it is to know what edition/version should be preferred.....

George

Quote from: Roasted Swan on August 07, 2022, 07:01:50 AM
VERY interesting!  So why and on what authority does the "original/uncut" version now take primacy since according to that article Rachmaninov was sure it was too long well before the 1st recording.....!?  I love the complete version.  A great example of how tricky it is to know what edition/version should be preferred.....

Rather than seeking "the" preferred version, I find it best to focus on which is "my" preferred version. 
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Brian

That was a fascinating read, thank you! Perfectly suited the question. (Also, brought a weird pang of recognition to me as an old college friend of mine used to occupy the same role as that author - he either preceded or succeeded her as the Cleveland Orchestra musicology intern.)

It's interesting to me that conductors through the ages loved to write down the timings of their performances.

It's also interesting how many choices a conductor has while performing that symphony. For example, if you decide not to make any of the cuts, do you at least accept the composer's word about the inaccurate metronome indication? "Corrections but not cuts"?

BasilValentine

#593
While Rachmaninoff was composing the Second Symphony he wrote to Sergei Taneyev saying that he was confronting insecurity about his understanding of rondo forms and asking for advice on them. This might be relevant to the longest cuts in the cut versions. In the (most extreme) cut version, the scherzo, originally a seven part rondo (ABACABA), becomes a five part rondo (ABACA). The same thing happens to the sonata-rondo finale.

I've always thought that these two cuts greatly improve the sense of forward progress, but then the first version I was exposed to was William Steinberg conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony in the most extreme cut version. I'd guess Steinberg just consulted the Cleveland score and/or recordings.

Brian

The cut I most appreciate is in the finale - the 'A' material does not need to be restated in full on its second and third times around. I'm fine with abbreviated versions in the recapitulations.

Madiel

That was indeed a very interesting read, thank you.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

bhodges

Quote from: Brewski on June 19, 2022, 08:42:56 PM
From the comments elsewhere on social media, Yunchan Lim (18 years old, from South Korea) deserves the top prize at the Van Cliburn competition. Here is his Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto, with Marin Alsop and the Fort Worth Symphony, posted earlier today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPJL488cfRw

--Bruce

If you haven't heard this, and like the piece, don't hesitate. I suspect he's going on to great things.

--Bruce

vandermolen

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on July 10, 2022, 04:08:41 PM
A work that has enthralled me for long has been Three Russian Songs for chorus and orchestra, Op. 41. Incredibly beautiful and very Russian indeed. The first one is with male choir, the 2nd one with female choir and the last one contains all the forces. It's not as widely recorded as his other music with orchestra, and it doesn't exceed a quarter of an hour in length.
+1 I have a number of recordings of it.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Maestro267

I'm looking for a good Symphonic Dances with cataclysmic-sounding tam-tam strokes at the end. The traditionally-recced recording of Jansons doesn't cut the mustard for me. I'm gutted Noseda and BBC Philharmonic didn't record it in their otherwise excellent traversal of the symphonies.

relm1

Quote from: Maestro267 on March 06, 2023, 05:29:11 AMI'm looking for a good Symphonic Dances with cataclysmic-sounding tam-tam strokes at the end. The traditionally-recced recording of Jansons doesn't cut the mustard for me. I'm gutted Noseda and BBC Philharmonic didn't record it in their otherwise excellent traversal of the symphonies.

I like Eiji Oue/Minnesota recording, so full of vigor and great tam-tam at the end.  Probably more epic than cataclysmic though.