''Recorded in April, 1985'' so the label informs us of this recital. But better late than never. Even today the CD catalogue has no alternative versions of either Rachmaninov's Op. 10 or 16 in their entirety. Early miniatures these pieces may be. But they are far too revealing to be dismissed. The composer was still only in his 21st year when completing the seven of Op. 10, not surprisingly there are passing echoes of Chopin and Tchaikovsky, in particular. Yet the pre-echoes of his own unique musical personality are still more remarkable. And though the six Moments musicaux followed only two years later, in their texture alone the child is recognizable as father of the man (incidentally the note-writer has interesting light to throw on their inner unity as a set).
Again, in this final volume of his very remarkable cycle, Shelley shows himself as masterful, intense and stylish a Rachmaninov player as so often before. Just once or twice in stormier moods in the later suite (as in the Etudes-tableaux which I reviewed in August) I wondered if a little less pedal might have encouraged a more gleaming Ashkenazy-like clarity of texture. But that is mere critical carping. Always his heart is in the right place. In the ''Barcarolle'' and ''Humoresque'' from the Morceaux de salon I managed to find old recordings by the composer himself for comparison. The ''Barcarolle'' from Shelley emerges without quite the same rhythmic lilt or (in the secondary section) spontaneous, throw-away charm. But his slightly slower, more introspective approach is just as persuasive. In the ''Humoresque'' he shares all the composer's own caprice in changing moods, reminding us of the connotations of this title as Schumann understood it. The recording is wholly truthful.'