Rachmaninov Piano Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Sergey Rachmaninov
Label: The Originals
Magazine Review Date: 2/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 61
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 446 220-2PH
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (24) Preludes, Movement: F sharp minor, Op. 23/1 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (24) Preludes, Movement: C minor, Op. 23/7 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (24) Preludes, Movement: B flat minor, Op. 32/2 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (24) Preludes, Movement: F minor, Op. 32/6 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (24) Preludes, Movement: A, Op. 32/9 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (24) Preludes, Movement: B minor, Op. 32/10 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (9) Etudes-tableaux, Movement: No. 4 in B minor |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (9) Etudes-tableaux, Movement: No. 7 in C minor |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (9) Etudes-tableaux, Movement: No. 1 in F minor |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (5) Morceaux de fantaisie, Movement: No. 3, Mélodie in E |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| (5) Morceaux de fantaisie, Movement: No. 5, Sérénade in B flat minor |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
| Sonata for Piano No. 2 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer Zoltán Kocsis, Piano |
Author: Bryce Morrison
This richly exploratory recital – far removed from a popular or commercial programme – contradicts at every turn stale, still prevailing notions concerning Rachmaninov. For not only is the Second Sonata played in its original 1913 version rather than the stitched-together 1931 revision, but the shorter items include many of the composer’s finest works. The seventh rather than the first C minor Etude-tableau, Op. 39, for example, is an elegy of the most startling modernity with its lamentoso outcries, its memory of the Russian liturgy and its massive central carillon. How refreshing, too, to open with the Brahmsian syncopation and expressive richness of the A major Prelude, Op. 32 No. 9 and to mix mood and key to such kaleidoscopic and dazzling effect.
Throughout, Kocsis’s performances are as bold and stimulating as his choice of works, gloriously free-spirited and of an immense pianistic brio and command. Indeed his performance of the Second Sonata is as fulminating and rhapsodic as any on record. And while I would never want to be without Van Cliburn’s epic and live 1960 Moscow performance (RCA – nla), Kocsis provides another, scarcely less hypnotic point of view. Action-packed in an exhausting and enthralling way, his reading never sounds arch or contrived in a way that so often disfigures Horowitz’s famous account (recorded by both Sony and RCA in Horowitz’s own unfortunate composite edition). Purposeful and sometimes angular, Kocsis possesses a stupendous technique, stepping out in dazzling style in the ultra-RussianEtude-tableau, Op. 33 No. 1 and clarifying the Siberian whirlwind of the F minor Prelude, Op. 32 No. 6 with a breathtaking clarity and focus. Kocsis’s accompanying essay is no less stimulating and astringent than his playing (he is unsparing over the 1931 revision of the Sonata) and he has been magnificently recorded.
Gratifyingly, Philips plan to reissue Kocsis’s recordings of the concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody; but we need more, much more, from this brilliant, most original artist.
'
Throughout, Kocsis’s performances are as bold and stimulating as his choice of works, gloriously free-spirited and of an immense pianistic brio and command. Indeed his performance of the Second Sonata is as fulminating and rhapsodic as any on record. And while I would never want to be without Van Cliburn’s epic and live 1960 Moscow performance (RCA – nla), Kocsis provides another, scarcely less hypnotic point of view. Action-packed in an exhausting and enthralling way, his reading never sounds arch or contrived in a way that so often disfigures Horowitz’s famous account (recorded by both Sony and RCA in Horowitz’s own unfortunate composite edition). Purposeful and sometimes angular, Kocsis possesses a stupendous technique, stepping out in dazzling style in the ultra-Russian
Gratifyingly, Philips plan to reissue Kocsis’s recordings of the concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody; but we need more, much more, from this brilliant, most original artist.
'
Rachmaninov Piano Works
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