Russian Émigré Composers: Prokofiev, Medtner, Grechaninov, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Igor Stravinsky, Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Sergey Rachmaninov, Sergey Prokofiev
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: Claudio
Magazine Review Date: 11/2018
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 69
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CR6042-2

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(20) Visions fugitives, Movement: Excerpts |
Sergey Prokofiev, Composer
Alexander Karpeyev, Piano Sergey Prokofiev, Composer |
Sonata-Ballada |
Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Composer
Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Composer |
Prelude |
Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer
Alexander Karpeyev, Piano Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer |
Lullaby |
Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer
Alexander Karpeyev, Piano Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer |
Waltz |
Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer
Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer |
Reproche |
Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer
Alexander Karpeyev, Piano Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer |
Caprice |
Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer
Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Composer |
All-Night Vigil, Movement: Nyne otpushchayeshi |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Alexander Karpeyev, Piano Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer |
Fragments |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Alexander Karpeyev, Piano Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer |
(9) Etudes-tableaux, Movement: No. 9 in D |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer |
3 Movements from Petrushka |
Igor Stravinsky, Composer
Alexander Karpeyev, Piano Igor Stravinsky, Composer |
Author: Michelle Assay
The sacred theme continues in Rachmaninov’s (possibly) own transcription of a movement from his All-Night Vigil and his funereal Étude-tableau. There is certainly a high enough emotional charge in the latter but Karpeyev is no match for Richter’s earth-shattering monumentality, nor for Horowitz’s theatricality. Similarly the Three Movements from Petrushka. Karpeyev’s are shadowed by a number of laboured passages, so that the performance as a whole becomes something of a battle royal – not a patch on the classic Pollini for bravura and colouristic flair.
Rachmaninov’s rarely performed Fragments and the five Grechaninov miniatures are a pleasant bonus. But I’m not sure who would want the average-to-good accounts of barely half of Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives. There is a workable recital programme here – ‘Before the Revolution’ or ‘Before Emigration’, perhaps – but as a CD I fear it is hardly collectable.
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