Twenty five years after their last recording of piano duets on Chandos, the Canadien pianists Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier return in a watershed collection of magnificently played duets by Rachmaninoff including the two suites and an arrangement for his Symphonic Dances. The Lortie/Mercier piano duo have known one another since their early teens, and have a considerable collaborative discography that showcases their affinity for the art of 4 hands and 2 pianos performances and repertoire.

On the occasion of its 25th Birthday Anniversary, the Piano Duo Genova & Dimitrov realizes this year a fervent wish with a genuine mammoth project taking the pianists to their emotional limits in a form that has never been witnessed in the music world before: the two exceptional artists have recorded on cpo Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Complete Works for Piano Duo as a double album. The manifold colors in these pieces full of musical ideas are just spectacular… truly a captivating affair of the heart and an hommage to their idol Rachmaninoff. But nobody can describe this music better than the pianists themselves: "Rachmaninoff's Second Suite, Schubert's Fantasy, Mozart's Sonata!, this was the authoritative answer that we, being Postgraduate students at the Hanover University of Music, received at the end of 1995 from our teacher, the piano legend Vladimir Krainev, to our question which works we could prepare for our first piano duo competition. At that time, we would have never imagined that almost 25 years later from these few words the idea for this grand project would develop – a project we are now so particularly proud of." And justifiably so. Their impressive interpretations of the whole wide range of diverse compositions display Rachmaninoff’s multifacetedness in all its emotionally incredible, supercharged glory.

REVIEW:

This is a useful release from a discographical standpoint in that it accounts for every Rachmaninov two-piano and one-piano-four-hands composition or arrangement. The Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo plays the Suite No. 1’s opening Barcarolle with less rubato leeway compared to Trifonov/Babayan and Ashkenazy/Previn. Although comparable strictness prevents the second movement from spilling all over the place, the players still allow the busy decorative background writing plenty of breathing space. The final two movements are excellently balanced, and it’s nice to hear the finale’s persistent “bell” ostinato roll out in long lined fashion, rather than hammered away.

The duo’s superb ensemble and careful balances make Rachmaninov’s early tone poem The Rock sound especially plausible and idiomatic in the composer’s “de-orchestrated” four-hand arrangement, although his Capriccio on Gypsy Themes loses some spice in translation, so to speak; it would have helped had Rachmaninov retained some of his original percussion parts! However, the ubiquitous C-sharp minor Prelude frankly gains little via its two-piano expansion.

I prefer the Genova/Dimitrov duo’s broader and lyrically inflected rendition of the not-so-interesting Russian Rhapsody to the heavier, emphatic Previn/Ashkenazy, while their expressive restraint in the Six Morceaux for Piano Duet contrasts to the Owen/Apekisheva duo’s slightly fussier approach. The Symphonic Dances stand out for Genova/Dimitrov’s wonderfully lithe and impetuously phrased finale.

Unfortunately the popular Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos proves this collection’s one real weak link. The Introduction transpires heavy-handedly, while the Waltz falls into predictable square-cut patterns and Tarantella lacks sufficient dynamic contrast. You’ll find far more flexibility and character in any of Martha Argerich’s Second Suite recordings (my favorites are the studio version with Nelson Freire and the live Gabriela Montero collaboration). Eckhardt van den Hoogen provides informative yet eccentric and stylistically convoluted booklet notes. Recommended on the whole, but make sure you’ve got an Argerich Second Suite handy.

– ClassicsToday (Je Distler)

The music of Rachmaninoff is of “enormous significance” to Kirill Petrenko. In it, he finds his “musical home”. His third edition together with the Berliner Philharmoniker is dedicated to the Russian composer, the 150th anniversary of whose birth was celebrated in 2023. It presents four key works: the Second Symphony, the Piano Concerto No. 2 and The Isle of the Dead – Rachmaninoff regularly performed them together until his emigration in 1917 – and the Symphonic Dances, which the composer wrote shortly before his death.

Learn more about Elite Recordings and the revival of their VOX Classics albums on the Naxos Classical Spotlight Podcast!

The three choral masterpieces featured on this recording, conducted by Leonard Slarkin, were originally issued on the Vox label in 1982. The Bells is sung in an English translation by Fanny S. Copeland of the Russian poet Konstantin Belmont's poem. The recordings were produced by Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz whose recordings are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest available. The Russian sung texts, transliterations and English translations are included in the booklet.

REVIEW:

Leonard Slatkin is adept atmost conveying the melancholy, sunset world of Rachmaninoff; when passion is called for, the Slatkin of 44 years ago in these performances musters plenty of it. He certainly guided the St Louis Symphony to become one of the nation’s finest orchestras, and they sound resplendent here.

— American Record Guide

Learn more about Elite Recordings and the revival of their VOX Classics albums on the Naxos Classical Spotlight Podcast!

Abbey Simon and Leonard Slatkin’s much-admired set of Rachmaninoff’s works for piano and orchestra makes a welcome return to the catalogue with this release of Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 4 plus the Paganini Rhapsody. These classic performances originally issued on the Vox label in the late 1970s were produced by Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz whose recordings are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest available. Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 with Simon and Slatkin are available on VOX-NX-3014CD.

Learn more about Elite Recordings and the revival of their VOX Classics albums on the Naxos Classical Spotlight Podcast!

The orchestral color and grandeur of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 and Prince Rostislav is expertly captured in these naturally balanced recordings produced by the legendary Elite Recordings team of Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz. Newly remastered from the original analogue tapes in high-definition, these acclaimed recordings conducted by Leonard Slatkin were originally issued on Vox in 1977 and 1982.

Learn more about Elite Recordings and the revival of their VOX Classics albums on the Naxos Classical Spotlight Podcast! 

Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 is a radiant work with warm-hearted voluptuousness, rhythmic vitality and an inventive structure, expertly captured in these naturally balanced recordings produced by the legendary Elite Recordings team of Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz. Newly remastered from the original analogue tapes in high-definition, these acclaimed recordings conducted by Leonard Slatkin were originally issued on Vox in 1979 and 1982.

REVIEW:

There are many excellent versions of these symphonies on the market; in fact, Slatkin himself later recorded an excellent set with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Still, these are excellent performances, excellently recorded, making them eminently recommendable for fans of these gorgeously tuneful symphonies.

-- Classical Candor

Inon Barnatan presents Rachmaninoff Reflections, offering some of the composer’s most cherished piano works, including his Moments musicaux, Prelude in G-Sharp Minor and Barnatan’s own arrangement of the Vocalise. Centrepiece of this project is Barnatan’s breathtaking new piano arrangement of the Symphonic Dances. Inon Barnatan is one of the most admired pianists of his generation (New York Times). His Pentatone discography consists of Time Traveler’s Suite (2021), Beethoven’s complete cello sonatas with Alisa Weilerstein (2022), as well as complete recordings of Beethoven’s piano concertos together with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Alan Gilbert (2019 and 2020).

The pianist Lukas Geniušas has recorded the original version of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata no.1 in the composer’s Swiss home Villa Senar (Sergei & Natalia Rachmaninoff) and on his own piano, an unusually long Steinway & Sons model, presented to the composer and concert pianist by the manufacturer to mark his sixtieth birthday. The difference between the original version of Sonata no.1 and the second version, shorter by more than 100 bars, is not just a question of length, according to Lukas Geniušas: ‘There is a lot lost between the first and second editions. I know it goes against the grain, but I would name this sonata to be one of, if not the best Rachmaninoff’s solo piano work. Its shattering might, its splendor and scale can only be likened to the Third piano concerto, which was written soon after.’ The programme is completed by four preludes from the Op. 32 set.

Between 2020 and 2023, Anna Fedorova released all of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos together with the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen and Modestas Pitrenas on Channel Classics Records. BBC Music Magazine gave five star reviews for Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1, Preludes, and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini as well as Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4, noting that “Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova is clearly not only a fine human being ... but also a remarkable artist". It was also Classic FM’s Album of the Weekend, Album of the Week on Scala Radio, received Luister Magazine’s 10 star-review and Anna was highly praised in International Piano for her "passionate, spontaneously phrased and radiant reading". Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was released in the spring of 2023 and quickly became a bestseller at Tower Records in Japan and at NativeDSD Music. With over 38 million views, Anna Fedorova’s live recording of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw is the most frequently watched concerto on YouTube. Anna Fedorova, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen and Modestas Pitrenas raise their glass to Rachmaninoff by releasing their complete 3 CD box-set in 2023; the 150th birthday year of the composer.

As a young man, fresh from his first real success as a composer with the opera Aleko, Rachmaninoff was on his way to visit his mentor Tchaikovsky when he saw a crowd gathered outside. The news of Tchaikovsky’s death sent him into a tailspin, and he passed the next few weeks alone, walking and writing this magnificent ‘Trio Elegiaque’ in memory of Tchaikovsky. Although the Trio is an early work it bears the unmistakable imprint of Rachmaninoff’s musical personality.

No understanding of Rachmaninoff is complete without the Trio, and the anniversary year of 2023, 150 years since his birth, Brilliant Classics has produced a magnificent new recording made by the established international collective Trio RoVerde. The trio’s pianist is Ekaterina Litvintseva, ‘the Arctic Circle Pianist’ now resident in Germany, who has several highly praised recordings on Brilliant Classics to her name: ‘Ekaterina Litvintseva has been amassing a distinguished discography – and this…exhibits the combination of sensitivity and self-assurance that have marked her playing up until now.’

Alongside the Trio here are two complementary sets of salon pieces by the young Rachmaninoff, dating from his years as a prodigious student but already infused with the potent strain of yearning Romanticism that would carry his name far and wide: Two Pieces Op. 2 for cello and piano, and two Morceaux de salon Op. 6 for violin and piano.

REVIEW:

The young trio RoVerde documents a live performance of the Trio élégiaque in Studio 150 (Amsterdam) with this album. The interpretation makes a very rounded, well-formed and mature impression.

-- Neue Musikalische Zeitung

Star tenor Piotr Beczala presents a selection of romances by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, together with the acclaimed lied accompanist Helmut Deutsch.

The romance was the most popular musical genre in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Russia, practiced by professionals as well as amateurs. Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff both enriched this genre with their lyricism and melodic invention.

Elevated by Deutsch’s splendid accompaniment, Beczala delivers these songs with a great sense for the Slavic idiom and meaning of the words, combined with colorful lyricism and italianità, perfectly fitting the Russian and cosmopolitan musical language of these two masters.

Piotr Beczala is one of the most sought-after tenors of his age, both on the opera and concert stage. His Pentatone debut album Vincerò! has been one of the most successful and critically acclaimed opera recital albums of the last few years. During the 2021 Opus Klassik Awards, Piotr Beczala was crowned as Singer of the Year for this exceptional recording. Pianist Helmut Deutsch is a first-class song accompanist, working together with the greatest vocalists of today. He makes his Pentatone debut.

The Berliner Philharmoniker’s contribution to the great Russian composer’s anniversary year places a landmark performance of his perennially popular C minor Concerto by Kirill Gerstein and Kirill Petrenko in the illuminating context of his solo music.

Gerstein says that a feeling of love for Rachmaninoff’s music was palpable in his rehearsals with Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmoniker, and their love was shared with listeners to this performance at the Waldbühne Concert in June 2022. Such a deeply gratifying collaboration led naturally to a Rachmaninoff project, with Gerstein recording solo music at the Philharmonie to complement the concerto from the Waldbühne. In his selection, the pianist curates a glimpse into the evolution of Rachmaninoff’s creative vision. Starting out from the familiar Romantic brilliance of the Second Concerto, the pieces glance backward to the youthful style of his early works and forward to the pared-down harmonies of his late Variations on a Theme of Corelli. Rachmaninoff 150 is also a celebration of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s own ties to the man and his music: a tradition that dates back to 1903, when the C minor Piano Concerto became the first of his works to be performed by the orchestra. The composer played this same concerto in 1908 at his Berliner Philharmoniker debut, as did Kirill Gerstein at his debut with the orchestra in 2016. Accompanying the SACD/CD release with stereo and surround sound is an illustrated 76-page booklet containing atmospheric artwork by Thomas Struth as well as extensive texts.

Includes: 

Sergei Rachmaninoff
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 3 Mélodie
Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42
Six Songs, Op. 4: No. 3 In the Silence of the Secret Night (Arr. Kirill Gerstein)

Fritz Kreisler
Old Viennese Dances: No. 2 Love's Sorrow (Arr. Sergei Rachmaninoff)

A new album of chamber works by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
This outstanding recording was made at two venues in Poland: the
Łódź Academy of Music, and the Czestochowa Philharmony. The
principal performer is pianist Barbara Karaśkiewicz who has made
several highly praised recordings for Divine Art (and before that the
esteemed Polish label Acte Preable). She performs two piano duos
with her musical partner Michał Rot. The chamber works are played
by the Huberman Piano Trio whose Divine Art recording of
20th Century Chamber music was also acclaimed by critics.
Both the performances and the perfectly engineered recording offer
a sumptuous program of Rachmaninoff that will delight listeners.
The Huberman Trio was formed at the initiative of Barbara
Karaśkiewicz, named in honour of the great Polish artist Bronislav
Huberman, famed for his performances and transcriptions of works
by Chopin and others.