Rachmaninoff plays Symphonic Dances: Newly Discovered 1940 Recording (FLAC)

Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms
Performer: Sergey Rachmaninov, Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Natalia Rachmaninov
Orchestra: New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Stokowski, Adrian Boult
Number of Discs: 3
Format: FLAC (image+cue)
Label: Marston
Catalogue: 53022-2
Release: 2018
Size: 629 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

CD 01
Rachmaninoff Demonstrates His Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
Impromptu performance at the piano
01. I. Non allegro (bar 1 to bar 41)
02. I. Non allegro (bar 48 to bar 236)
03. I. Non allegro (pickup to bar 241 to 263)
04. II. Andante con moto, Tempo di valse (beginning to bar 176)
05. II. Andante con moto, Tempo di valse (middle of bar 182 to end)
06. III. Lento assai — Allegro vivace — Lento assai, Come prima — Allegro vivace (bar 8 to bar 214)
An edited version of the original recording, with most of the repeated phrases and spoken comments removed, and with the music presented in its proper score sequence
21 December 1940

Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
07. I. Non allegro
08. II. Andante con moto, Tempo di valse
09. III. Lento assai — Allegro vivace — Lento assai, Come prima — Allegro vivace
with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos
20 December 1942, New York City

CD 02
Rachmaninoff: The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29
01. Introductory radio announcement followed by Eugene Ormandy speaking about Rachmaninoff
02. The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29
with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy

2 April 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(This performance was given as a memorial to the composer five days after his death on 28 March)

Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 44
03. I. Lento — Allegro moderato — Allegro
04. II. Adagio ma non troppo — Allegro vivace
05. III. Allegro — Allegro vivace — Allegro, Tempo primo — Allegretto — Allegro vivace
with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos
21 December 1941, New York City

06. Belilitsï rumyanitsï, vy moi (Powder and Paint) (Russian folk song, arranged by Rachmaninoff)
Nadezhda Plevitskaya, mezzo soprano, with Sergei Rachmaninoff, piano
Victor Talking Machine Company private recording, made for the composer
22 February 1926, New York City
(Note: This song was used as the third of Rachmaninoff’s “Three Russian Songs for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 41.” The Victor recording logs give the title as “Powder and Paint”)

Rachmaninoff: Three Russian Songs for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 41
07. I. Cherez rechku (Over the Stream), Moderato
08. II. Akh ty, Vanka (Oh, My Little Johnny), Largo
09. III. Belilitsï rumyanitsï, vy moi (You, My Fairness, My Rosy Cheeks or “Powder and Paint”), Allegro
with the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski, with the Schola Cantorum
18 December 1966, New York City

CD 03
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
01. Introductory radio announcement
02. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Benno Moiseiwitsch, piano, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult
14 September 1946, London

03. Rachmaninoff: Polka Italienne
with Sergei and Natalia Rachmaninoff, piano
private recording, circa 1942

04. Russian folk song: Bublichki (Bagels)
with Rachmaninoff accompanying friends at a party, circa 1942
05. Rachmaninoff plays ballades: Brahms Op. 10, No. 2, in D (middle of bar 145 to bar 150), and Liszt No. 2, in B Minor (through the end of bar 125; bars 77-79 omitted)
recorded by Bell Telephone Laboratories during a Rachmaninoff recital at the Academy of Music
5 December 1931, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Rachmaninoff Demonstrates His Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
Impromptu performance at the piano
06. Side 1: Movement I. Non allegro (bar 48 to bar 236)
07. Side 2:
Excerpt 1: Movement I. Non allegro (pickup to bar 241 to bar 263)
Excerpt 2: Movement III. Lento assai — Allegro vivace — Lento assai, Come prima — Allegro vivace (bar 8 to bar 214)
08. Side 3: Movement II. Andante con moto, Tempo di valse (beginning to bar 176)
09. Side 4:
Excerpt 1: Movement II. Andante con moto, Tempo di valse (middle of bar 182 to end)
Excerpt 2: Movement I. Non allegro (beginning to bar 41)
The unedited, complete recording, with each of the four acetate sides presented as track points
21 December 1940

At an impromptu gathering in 1940, Sergei Rachmaninoff demonstrated at the piano just how he wanted his new orchestral work, Symphonic Dances, to be performed. Rachmaninoff, one of the greatest of all pianists, reduced the orchestral score for a single piano on this occasion. That recording is presented here in two versions: first, edited to conform to the score and again, just as the occasion unfolded, as Rachmaninoff jumped from place to place as he demonstrated. Other performers include pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch, mezzo soprano Nadezhda Plevitskaya, and conductors Adrian Boult, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Eugene Ormandy, and Leopold Stokowski. These are complemented by every known non-commercial recording of Rachmaninoff, accompanied by a detailed essay concerning Rachmaninoff, the Symphonic Dances, and these recordings written especially for this issue by Richard Taruskin, author of the Oxford History of Western Music.