Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Release: 2012
Size: 221 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Piano Piece in A flat major
Morceaux de Salon, Op. 10
02. 1. Nocturne
03. 2. Valse
04. 3. Barcarolle
05. 4. Mélodie
06. 5. Humoreske
07. 6. Romanze
08. 7. Mazurka
Three Nocturnes
09. Nocturne in F
10. Nocturne in C Minor
11. Nocturne in F Sharp Minor
12. Song Without Words (D Minor)
13. Canon in E Minor, TN ii / 14
14. Fugue (D Minor)
Four Pieces (originally Op.1)
15. 1. Romance
16. 2. Prelude
17. 3. Mélodie
18. 4. Gavotte
19. Prelude in F
20. Morceau de Fantaisie in G minor (“Delmo”)
21. Fughetta in F (1899)
22. Oriental Dance, Op. 2 No. 2
23. Night is sorrowful, Op. 26 No.12
Vespers (All-Night Vigil), Op.37 – Arr. Rachmaninov
24. Nunc Dimittis (Nyne otpushchayeshi)
Few pianists can rival Vladimir Ashkenazy for his wide-ranging repertoire, and he is second to none in the depth of his coverage of the music of Sergey Rachmaninov, which he has served up many times over the five decades he has recorded for Decca. This 2013 album completes his recordings of Rachmaninov’s oeuvre, and as the culminating collection of the solo piano music, it presents minor pieces that rarely have been recorded and, in some cases, have been hidden from view since the composer’s lifetime. The Morceaux de salon, Op. 10, are the most frequently played, but the majority of pieces here date from Rachmaninov’s youth, or were sketches he never published. While the Piano Piece in A flat major would be unknown but for the discovery and copying of it from the sketch found in the Library of Congress, and the Song without Words being retrieved from a facsimile in Oskar von Reisemann’s biography, the remaining juvenilia and student works have been published. Even Ashkenazy’s two premiere recordings of Noch’ pechal’na, Op. 26/12, and the Nunc dimittis from the All-Night Vigil are merely the pianist’s own arrangements, so the sense of discovery is limited. All the same, Ashkenazy performs a service to Rachmaninov’s memory by rescuing these minor gems, and fans will be interested to hear them, if not necessarily bowled over by them.