Classical Music

The meteoric ascent of Vassily Primakov's international career has resulted from a series of competition victories, prizes in honor of his artistry, and his award-winning recordings. Winner of First Prize in the Young Concert Artist International Auditions and the Audience Prize of the Gina Bachauer International Competition, Primakov was named the Classical Recording Foundation's "Young Artist of the Year" in 2007. His much-heralded recordings have garnered National Public Radio's "CD of the Year" (Chopin Mazurkas, 2010), American Record Guide's "Best of the Year" (Schubert Impromptus; and Dvorak Piano Concerto, 2011) and BBC Music Magazine's Music Choice. (Chopin Ballades, Brahms Intermezzi, and Scriabin Sonata No. 4, 2010). This new recording presents Primakov's renditions of some of Rachmaninoff's most beloved works, played on a superb Bechstein Concert Grand.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The second disc of this set is a reading of Pushkin's original poem "The Gypsies", on which 'Aleko' is based. This poem is read in both English and Russian by Michael York and, respectively, Vassily Lanovoy.

This new release from Mathis Rochat and Erdem Mısırlıoğlu is a collection of works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, imagined for solo viola or viola with piano. All of the works have been arranged by Mathis Rochat. Inspired by Yuri Bashmet's saying "Nobody knows how viola should sound!", Mathis Rochat enjoys the freedom that his instrument gives him in terms of sound coloring and likes to explore all kind of repertoire, new and old, originals or transcriptions. He has appeared as a soloist with the Walton Viola Concerto, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante and the Hoffmeister Viola Concerto with orchestras such as the Norddeutsche Philharmonie and the Da Capo Ensemble.

Beata Szalwinska and Alexander Anisimov write of their new release: “Romances Rachmaninoff is a combination of the beauty of vocal lyricism, rich piano parts full of virtuosity, and texts of great Russian poets. Love, happiness, longing, passion, suffering, sadness, everything that human life is filled with. The songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff are a synthesis of an equal dialogue between a voice and a piano, where each of the artists has a possibility of showing their sensitivity and artistic personality, inspiring one another. The beauty of this music is, and was, a source of inspiration, owing to which transcriptions of the songs for solo piano have been created. The record is a declaration of our admiration for Sergei Rachmaninoff's music, which gave us the possibility of expressing our deepest feelings and emotions.”

What does the work of a conductor actually involve? He moves his hands, arms, his whole body, he makes use of his eyes and facial expressions - and he also sings and speaks, but only during rehearsals, of course. Being able to follow a conductor's interpretation makes for an exciting process, and conveys the basic idea behind a work far more vividly at the same time. "Conductors in Rehearsal" is a BR-KLASSIK series that takes a closer look at the “orchestral workshop”. One can experience first-hand how the conductor's wishes and instructions are implemented, how his explanations and his temperament change the resulting sound, and what concepts lie behind the interpretation of the work. Thanks to this series - which also now being released on album - the special collaboration between Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra can be documented. The first set presented by BR-KLASSIK documents four rehearsals for concerts in the Munich Philharmonie im Gasteig, taken from different phases of the collaboration between Mariss Jansons’ work with the BRSO.

Pianist Charles Owen and his regular duo partner Katya Apekisheva turn to Rachmaninov’s diverse Suites for two pianos, and the composer’s atmospheric Six Morceaux, for their first joint recording for AVIE. The cofounders of the London Piano Festival delve into the quintessentially Russian Suite No. 1, also known as “Fantasise-Tableaux,” with its poetic inspirations, and the more traditional Suite No. 2 which marked Rachmaninov’s compositional comeback after a four-year hiatus. Rounding out the album, Charles and Katya share the piano bench for the atmospheric piano four hands Six Morceaux. “…Together Owen and Apekisheva are not just one-plus-one, but virtually a third entity…in Rachmaninov’s heavenly Suite No. 2, its dizzying waltz delivered with extraordinary precision, yet full of subtle, pearly coloring… played with tremendous panache.” (The Arts Desk)

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REVIEW:

This new Avie release combines the two Suites for two pianos with the attractive collection of six Morceaux, Opus 11, the latter for four hands on one instrument. The Suite No. 1 begins with a beguiling Barcarolle which gradually builds in complexity as it proceeds, and the clarity of the textures as presented here are the result of much careful rehearsal combined with the splendidly balanced recorded sound. These strengths, moreover, set a standard that can be experienced throughout the recital. However, it is the final movement – Pâques – which makes the strongest impression of all, with Rachmaninov’s favourite bell-sounds ringing forth in joyful sonority: a wonderful sound, vividly realised.

The Second Suite is more ambitious still, and magnificently realised by Owen and Apekisheva from the opening bars. The exuberant enthusiasm of the performance reflects the very nature of the music, until in the final Tarantella the balancing of virtuoso rhythmic precision at a fast tempo with clarity of phrasing represents a veritable triumph.

The six Morceaux of 1894, written when the composer was aged twenty-one, were composed in tribute to two recently deceased supporters: Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Nikolai Zverev. Be that as it may, Rachmaninov was trying to develop his career as a professional composer, so these duets were intended for early publication and sale in order to ‘balance the books’. Therefore the music is slighter than that of the two Suites, but always beautifully judged, and sometimes captivating, as when another opening Barcarolle, as in the Suite composed during the preceding year, sets the tone for the whole sequence.

– MusicWeb International

Two giant works: the lesser played 1913 version of Op. 36, Piano Sonata No. 2, an epic piece in the truest sense of the word and Op. 23, 10 Preludes, an intimate cycle, both challenge the physical and psychological limits of the player and the listener. With the help of the Bösendorfer Concert Grand 280VC – Vienna Concert this recording dives deep into the rich, orchestral sound world, as well as the dark nature of these works, loaded with fine details, technical and emotional extremities, candid moments and explosivity. Emre Yavuz was born in 1990 in Izmir, Turkey. His talent for learning at a rapid pace was evident at an early age, eventually leading to a musical education. He started his education in music in 1998 under the “Educational Act for Prodigy Children”, studying with Kamuran Gündemir in Ankara. He continued his studies with Fazil Say and Sanem Berkalp at the Bilkent University, where he also studied composition. Later studying with Roland Batik in Vienna, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling in Hannover, and with Arie Vardi in Hannover and Tel Aviv. Starting at an early age Yavuz played with major orchestras performing concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. With his interpretations of Chopin he won prizes in Sicily in 2007, and in Vienna in 2010. He became the first piano student of the Vienna Conservatory to graduate with full grades upon his final recital, performing works by Beethoven, Saygun and Rachmaninoff. In 2013 he performed Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 under the conduction of Zubin Mehta. Emre has competed in a number of competitions, winning prizes internationally.

This new recording of Rachmaninoff’s early works offers a fascinating insight into the budding genius of the great Russian. A child prodigy at the piano Rachmaninoff was obviously drawn to his instrument when composing his first sketches and works. Pianistically challenging and bursting with melancholy and passion they are already vintage Rachmaninoff and form the foundation for his later masterworks. The recording contains several character pieces like a Song Without Words and a separate Prelude, the 3 Nocturnes and the recently discovered Suite in D minor, as well as the Morceaux de Salon Op. 10. Italian pianist Elisa Tomellini was schooled at the famous Imola Piano Academy, where her teachers included Franco Scala, Joaquin Achucarro and Alexander Lonquich. She followed masterclasses with Maurizio Pollini and Lazar Berman. She played in Washington Kennedy Center and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Her playing combines Italian charm and Slavic passion.

Sergei Rachmaninov was one of the twentieth century’s outstanding pianists, but the large body of purely orchestral music he composed is no less an expression of his musical character. His great strength was that he managed to preserve intact a vision he had discovered very early in life. This contemporary of Schoenberg, Scriabin, Ravel and Ives was unconcerned with musical fashions and had no wish to be a pioneer. Instead, and over a period of half a century he refined and deepened a language which derived naturally from his late-nineteenth-century Russian background.

With this four-disc box set, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Lan Shui present a comprehensive collection of Rachmaninov’s music for orchestra – from the Scherzo in D minor, his first surviving piece for orchestra, completed just before his fifteenth birthday to the canonical works: the Symphonies and the Symphonic Dances. The recordings were made between 2008 and 2015, with the three symphonies (previously released on separate albums) described as ‘eine formidable Gesamteinspielung’ on the website Pizzicato. But there is much more to Rachmaninov’s orchestral music besides the symphonies, and this box offers the listener opportunity to explore the young composer’s fascination with Gypsy themes (in the excerpts from the opera Aleko and Capriccio bohemien) as well as his lifelong preoccupation with death, in the form of the four notes of the Dies irae plainchant motif. This is heard again and again in Rachmaninov’s music, up until his very last work, the Symphonic Dances, where, at the very end of the third and final dance, this symbol of death is finally laid to rest.

REVIEWS:

It would be difficult to imagine a more compelling or indeed idiomatic account of the First Symphony than Shui’s...this is a first-rate set, with sound to match.

-- HiFi (UK)

Named All-Time Best Recording of the All-Night Vigil by BBC Music Magazine!

Gloriae Dei Cantores releases All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, conducted by Peter Jermihov (internationally recognized specialist in Russian and Orthodox Liturgical music). Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil is made up of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. Critics praised the work as Rachmaninoff’s finest achievement and “the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church.” It was also one of the composer’s favorite compositions, and the fifth movement was sung at his funeral. Gloriae Dei Cantores is joined by members of the St. Romanos Cappella, The Patriarch Tikhon Choir, and The Washington Master Chorale. Protodeacon under the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vadim Gan, sings the clergy exclamations as well as Dmitry Ivanchenko. Soloists, Dmitry Ivanchenko and Mariya Berezovska, from the National Opera of Ukraine in Kiev, join the choir of 77 singers for this landmark collaboration and recording.

REVIEWS:

This new recording has the essential sound of the Russian choirs, with their bass-centered sonority, and tempos which allow the music to unfold in the measured pace of a devotional service. Better yet, the text-based spiritual approach to the music...stirs at least as deeply as [the] ...Russian recordings. While referring to the texts, you will have the pleasure of seeing the gorgeously illustrated booklet, with a background on each hymn and photographs of Russian churches, countryside and icons. The result is one of the very finest recordings this work has ever received.

--Ronald E. Grames, Fanfare

A landmark recording, one that is destined to become the new standard for this work. And if you don't know the Rachmaninoff "All-Night Vigil " yet, THIS is the recording you should get to begin your acquaintance. You will have to wait a long time before something better comes along!"

-- Vladimir Morosan, Musica Russica

We are invited to lift our spirits through a deeply inspired performance of Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil. This performance rings with devotional majesty . . . The stunning surround sound comes to us through the combined efforts of Keith O. Johnson and Sean Royce Martin.

-- Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition

"Recording of the Month... A splendid achievement."

-- MusicWeb International

"An exemplary performance... a superlative recording... beyond glorious."

-- The Buffalo News