Composer: Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergey Rachmaninov
Performer: Barry Douglas
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Release: 2019
Size: 1.06 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Tchaikovsky: Grand Sonata for Piano in G major Op. 37
01. I. Moderato e risoluto
02. II. Andante non troppo quasi moderato
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro giocoso
04. IV. Finale. Allegro vivace
05. Méditation (No. 5 from Morceaux, Op. 72)
Rachmaninov: Moments Musicaux, Op. 16
06. No. 1, Andantino
07. No. 2, Allegretto
08. No. 3, Andante cantabile
09. No. 4, Presto
10. No. 5, Adagio sostenuto
11. No. 6, Maestoso
Tchaikovsky’s Grande Sonate, in G major was dedicated to Karl Klindworth, and first performed at a private hearing in 1879, by Nikolay Rubinstein, founder of the Moscow Conservatory. Composed in the autumn of 1896, the Six Moments musicaux of Rachmaninoff adopt musical forms from previous eras: the nocturne, song without words, barcarolle, virtuoso étude, and theme and variations. Written in haste in order to meet the commission deadline (the twenty-three-year-old Rachmaninoff was desperately short of funds), the set evidences his virtuosity, and is full of portent of the music to come. Barry Douglas writes: ‘This recording project with Chandos Records is a personal salute from me to great masterworks of the Russian repertoire. I am an Irish pianist who, nevertheless, feels a deep affinity with Russian culture, and felt it even before I had the good fortune to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1986. Our own Irish composer and virtuoso pianist John Field, who invented the Nocturne and taught a whole generation of Russian musicians, fermented the linkage between Ireland and Russia, and I feel very proud to help keep this synergy alive!’