Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov
Performer: Jean-Paul Gasparian
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Evidence
Catalogue: EVCD085
Release: 2022
Size: 1.31 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36
01. I. Allegro agitato
02. II. Non allegro – Lento
03. III. L’istesso tempo – Allegro molto
04. Prelude Op. 23 No. 4 in D major
05. Prelude Op. 32 No. 10 in B minor
Moments Musicaux, Op. 16
06. I. Andantino in B Flat Minor
07. II. Allegro in E Flat Minor
08. III. Andante cantabile in B Minor
09. IV. Presto in E Minor
10. V. Adagio sostenuto in D Flat Major
11. VI. Maestoso in C Major
12. Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14
The virtuoso pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, one of the last great figures of Russian Romanticism, was prone throughout his life to painful bouts of depression. His troubled nature found release in music of flamboyant intensity, combining dazzling, feverish, almost expressionistic passages with perfectly limpid melodies. The emotionally intense Piano Sonata No. 2 and the Six Moments musicaux illustrate this perfectly, while encapsulating the composer’s very distinctive poetry. Jean-Paul Gasparian is in his element here: after an acclaimed first recording devoted to the Russian School, he confirms in this third opus not only his elective affinities, but also his impressive command of this repertoire. There is profundity, density and warmth in his playing – qualities perfectly suited to the incandescent lyricism and the ardour and nobility that characterise the works of this Russian composer.