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8.112058 bk Rachmaninov-2_EU:8.112058 bk Rachmaninov-2_EU 21-02-2011 9:38 Pagina 1

Rachmaninov over the other greats of the Golden Era model D piano, number 194597, an instrument that ADD – Hofmann, Lhevinne, Godowsky, Friedman, Cortot, had been manufactured in 1918. Three more sessions and the titans of the next generation such as Horowitz, took place in December 1925, producing one of Great • Rachmaninov • 2 Rubinstein and Richter. Is the conclusion to be drawn Rachmaninov’s most impressive recordings, Liszt’s 8.112058 from this that Rachmaninov is a ’s pianist – a Concert Etude, Gnomenreigen. He had recorded two Also available term often levelled at Leopold Godowsky? Probably takes of this technically demanding work on 14th not exclusively, although his combination of perfect December and was satisfied with the third made two technique, utter clarity and supreme musicianship days later. obviously appeals to pianists as does his style of Rachmaninov was a perfectionist, recording take composition. after take until he was satisfied. For his disc of BEETHOVEN When he decided that he would have to earn his Mendelssohn’s ‘Spinning Song’ takes 12-17 were living as a pianist, rather than solely as a composer, made on 11th April 1928 and takes 18-22 on the 25th 32 Variations Rachmaninov prepared a wide range of repertoire April. He chose take 21 for issue (although the earliest from Bach and Handel through Mozart, Beethoven, takes were made by the acoustic process and from (Excerpts) Schubert and Mendelssohn to Liszt, Tchaikovsky and these take 2 recorded in 1920 was previously issued). other , including his contemporary and fellow Also on the 11th April 1928 Rachmaninov recorded student . Of Tchaikovsky’s November from The Seasons, Op.37b, course, audiences expected to hear him play his own the same day that Josef Lhevinne made his celebrated MENDELSSOHN compositions. recording of the Blue Danube Waltz by Schultz-Evler. This second volume of Rachmaninov’s recordings Rachmaninov only recorded one work by Scriabin, Études includes works by the composers mentioned above and this was never issued on 78 rpm disc. Ever the and many of these are early electrical recordings. perfectionist, he demanded that all rejected sides were 8.111128 8.111326 Columbia had already been experimenting with the destroyed, but this Scriabin Prelude was not, so must Western Electric process when they recorded pianist have been approved. He made two takes of it at a Mischa Levitzki in November 1924 (Naxos 8.110688) session that also included five takes of his arrangement BACH • HANDEL and it was during the middle of March 1925 that Victor of Flight of the Bumble Bee. installed the new equipment at their studio in Camden, Sessions in December 1935 and January 1936 GLUCK • MOZART New Jersey. Within a month Rachmaninov was there produced the Handel and Borodin tracks heard here to make his first electrical recordings even though they and it is evident that even in such disparate styles SCHUBERT • LISZT would not be released for more than eighteen months Rachmaninov’s clarity and control of the structure, to allow time for the public to buy new electrical sound, colour, and tone is always paramount. Redolent TCHAIKOVSKY phonographs on which to play the discs. On the 13th of the recording Horowitz made at the end of his life, and 14th April 1925 he recorded a number of sides the Schubert-Liszt Ständchen was recorded in 1942, a including excerpts from the Beethoven Variations in C year before Rachmaninov died. SCRIABIN minor, WoO 80, and then returned a month later on 14th May for retakes. For the Mozart and Gluck titles © 2010 Jonathan Summers recorded at this session Rachmaninov used a Steinway

8.111350 8.111351 Sergey Rachmaninov

Historical recordings 1925-1942

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): * Variation XIII 0:17 (1811-1886): Alexander Borodin (1833-1887): Great Pianists: Sergey RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) ( · Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828 Variation XIV 0:17 Zwei Konzertetüden, S.145 / R6 Scherzo in A flat major Solo Piano Recordings Volume 2 • Beethoven • Mendelssohn • Liszt • Schubert 1 V. Sarabande 4:19 ) Variation XIX 0:13 › No. 2 Gnomenreigen (Dance of the Gnomes) 3:09 Recorded on 23rd December 1935 3:02 Recorded on 16th December 1925 ¡ Variation XXII 0:15 Recorded on 16th December 1925 mat. BS 98394-1; Victor 1762 Sergey Rachmaninov was born in Novgorod, in months, performed in Europe for one month, and spent mat. CVE 34143-3; Victor 6621 ™ Variation XXIII 0:27 mat. BE 34146-3; Victor 1184 1873. After studies with a few local teachers, five months composing and resting, spending winters £ Variation XXIV 0:10 Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Rachmaninov’s cousin, (1863–1945), in New York and summers in Europe. George Frederic Handel (1685-1759): ¢ Variation XXV 0:16 Franz Liszt (1811-1886): The Seasons, Op. 37b arranged for him to go to the Moscow Conservatory to Rachmaninov was the first twentieth century Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430 – Variation XXVI 0:12 fi Polonaise No. 2 in E major, S.223/2 / R44 7:49 ‚ 11. November ‘Troika en traineaux’ 4:00 study with , a renowned disciplinarian. composer of note to record all of his piano concertos 2 IV. Air & Variations ‘Harmonious Blacksmith’ 4:25 § Variation XXVII 0:12 Recorded on 13th April 1925 Recorded on 11th April 1928 In fact, Rachmaninov and two other boys lived with and far from these recordings being left as a blue print Recorded on 3rd January 1936 ¶ Variation XXVIII 0:18 mats. CVE 32508-2, and 32509-2; Victor 6504 mat. CVE 23983-8; Victor 6857 Zverev under a strict régime of rigorous practice. In for future performers, the trend and style when mat. CS 98393-3; HMV DB 3146 • Variation XXXI 0:17 this environment, however, the young Rachmaninov presenting these works gradually became more met and heard the greatest musicians of the time romantic and indulgent. This was due in part to the ª Variation XXXII 1:32 Franz Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915): including , , Sergey Hollywood connotations of his Second Piano Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787): Three Etudes, Op. 104b a Prelude in F sharp minor, Op. 11, No. 8 Recorded on 13th April and 14th May 1925 2:41 Taneyev and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. At the age of fifteen, Concerto which was used in the British film Brief Orfeo ed Euridice mats. CVE 32506-4 and CVE 32507-1; fl No. 2 in F major* 2:55 Recorded on 16th April 1929 3 ‡ Rachmaninov began piano studies with Siloti, and also Encounter. As the decades rolled on, performances Mélodie (arr. Sgambati) 3:33 Victor 6544 No. 3 in A minor** 1:51 mat. BVE 51806-1; Unpublished on 78 rpm took harmony with Arensky and counterpoint with and recordings of these concertos gathered more and Recorded on 14th May 1925 Recorded on 25th April 1927 Taneyev. In 1891 Siloti resigned from the Moscow more varnish until recently when they were recorded mat. BVE 31558-4; Victor 1124 (1770-1827): mat. BVE 37453-4; Victor 1266* (1860-1941): Conservatory, and rather than have a new teacher for by Stephen Hough in a style far closer to The Ruins of Athens, Op. 113 mat. BVE 37454-4; Victor 1266** Humoresques de concert, Op. 14 his final year, Rachmaninov was allowed to take his Rachmaninov’s own. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): º Turkish March (arr. Anton Rubinstein) 3:12 b Menuet célèbre in G major 3:55 final piano exams a year early. Rachmaninov’s reputation as a composer waxed Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 Recorded on 14th December 1925 Franz Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Recorded on 5th April 1927 The 1890s were spent in composition and and waned over the twentieth century. Popular during 4 III. Rondo alla turca 2:19 mat. BVE 39387-1; Victor 1196 , Book 6, Op. 67 mat. CVE 24651-5; Victor 6731 and it was in November 1901 that his lifetime, ten years after his death his music was Recorded on 14th May 1925 ° No. 4 in C major ‘Spinning Song’ 1:45 Rachmaninov gave the first performance of his described thus in the Grove Dictionary of Music: ‘The mat. BVE 24638-6; Victor 1124 (1797-1828): Recorded on 25th April 1928 J. Strauss II (1825-1899) (arr. Tausig): famous No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18. He enormous popular success some few of ⁄ Impromptu in A flat major, Op. 90, No. 4 4:34 mat. BVE 24646-21; Victor 1326 c Valse Caprice No. 2, Op. 167 made his American début in 1909 playing his newly Rachmaninov’s works had in his lifetime is not likely Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Recorded on 29th December 1925 ‘Man lebt nur einmal’ 7:08 written Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30. The to last, and musicians never regarded it with much 32 Variations in C minor, WoO 80 (Excerpts) mat. CVE 34144-5; Victor 6621 Recorded on 5th April 1927 years up to World War I were taken up with touring, favour.’ With the musically informed public performing and composing, and in 1914 Rachmaninov Rachmaninov’s music has always been popular. 5 mats. CVE 37466; Victor 6636 Thema: Allegretto 0:23 toured southern Russia with Serge Koussevitzky Granted, for many years this popularity was founded 6 Variation I 0:12 ¤ Franz Schubert (1797-1828) arr Liszt: 7 giving concerts for the war effort. At the end of 1917, on a few works only – particularly the Piano Concerto Variation II 0:11 Ständchen, S560 / R245 No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Prelude in C sharp 8 however, Rachmaninov received an invitation to , and the Variation III 0:12 (No. 7 from Schwanengesang, D. 957) 4:31 perform in Stockholm and he took his wife and two minor, Op. 3, No. 2. In the second half of the twentieth 9 Variation IV 0:16 Recorded on 27th February 1942 daughters with him, never to return to his homeland. century, however, his Piano Concerto No. 3 in D 0 Variation V 0:20 mat. PCS 072138-1; Victor 11-8728 Thanks to Raymond Edwards, Lawrence Holdridge and Donald Manildi Having left all his possessions in Russia, he decided at minor, Op. 30, was taken up by many pianists, ! Variation VI 0:10 the age of 45 that he would have to start a new life and receiving as many, if not more, performances today @ Variation VII 0:19 ‹ Franz Schubert (1797-1828) arr Liszt: support his family by performing on the piano. than its popular sibling. # Variation VIII 0:16 Das Wandern, S565 / R249 Although he had hated his previous experience of As a pianist, though, Rachmaninov is far less $ Variation IX 0:25 (No. 1 from Die schöne Mullerin, D. 795) 1:44 America, he decided that his best chances of success familiar to the general public. For a survey carried out % Variation X 0:16 Recorded on 14th April 1925 were in the New World. In four months at the end of in 2010 by BBC Music Magazine it was decided not to ^ Variation XI 0:15 mat. BVE 31564-4; Victor 1161 1918 he gave forty concerts there and within the next ask the general public, but ‘one hundred of today’s & Variation XII 0:20 three years had bought a house in New York and leading concert pianists to name the finest players of signed a contract with Victor Records. For the next 25 the recorded era’. With only three votes allowed from years of his life he toured America each year for six each, the overwhelming majority voted for

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