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.