Rachmaninoff: Piano Solo
Rachmaninoff: Piano Solo
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor—often seen as one of the last great Romantic voices. Early influences from Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov matured into a personal idiom marked by song-like melody, expressive sweep, dense counterpoint, and lush orchestration. The piano sits at the heart of his output, shaped by his own formidable technique.
Born into a musical family, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 1892. After the failed 1897 premiere of his Symphony No. 1 and a prolonged depression, therapy helped him complete the triumphant Piano Concerto No. 2 (1901). He led the Bolshoi Theatre (1904–06), moved to Dresden (1906), and debuted in the United States as a pianist in 1909.
Following the Russian Revolution, he settled in New York (1918), spending most of his career thereafter touring across the U.S. and Europe, with summers in Switzerland from 1932. Exile reduced his composing to just six works. In 1942 he moved to Beverly Hills, where he died in 1943.
Tracklist:
00:00:00 Moments musicaux, Op. 16: No. 5 in D-Flat Major, Adagio sostenuto
Vadim Chaimovich
00:04:42 12 Romances, Op. 21: No. 5, Lilacs
00:07:33 13 Preludes, Op. 32: No. 5 in G Major, Moderato
Benedetta Iardella
10 Preludes, Op. 23:
00:10:51 No. 10 in G-Flat Major
00:13:59 No. 4 in D Major
Vovka Ashkenazy
00:18:51 Moments musicaux, Op. 16: No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Andantino
00:28:33 14 Romances, Op. 34: No. 14, Vocalise (Arr. for Solo Piano by Alexander Siloti)
Vadim Chaimovich
00:32:28 Moments musicaux, Op. 16: No. 2 in E-Flat Minor, Allegretto
Vadim Chaimovich
00:36:07 Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 2, Prélude (The Bells of Moscow)
00:40:03 13 Preludes, Op. 32: No. 10 in B Minor, Lento
Benedetta Iardella
00:46:19 10 Preludes, Op. 23: No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor
Vovka Ashkenazy
00:50:26 Moments musicaux, Op. 16: No. 3 in B Minor, Andante cantabile
Vadim Chaimovich
00:59:21 Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 33: No. 7 in G Minor, Moderato
01:03:25 13 Preludes, Op. 32: No. 12, Allegro
Benedetta Iardella
Moments musicaux, Op. 16:
01:06:23 No. 4 in E Minor, Presto
01:09:35 No. 6 in C Major, Maestoso
Vadim Chaimovich
01:15:09 10 Preludes, Op. 23: No. 2 in B-Flat Major
Vovka Ashkenazy
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 36 (Live):
01:18:38 I. Allegro agitato
01:27:20 II. Non allegro - Lento
01:34:25 III. L'istesso tempo - Allegro molto
Giovanni Umberto Battel
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