Firma Melodiya presents an uncommon set of concertos for piano and orchestra by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
These compositions have been a criterion of every pianist's musical mastery and artistic individuality for a long time. Their successful performance by young musicians opens a path to extensive concert activities, and the interpretations by well-known pianists bring new comparisons and discussions to life.
The set is a collection of performances of all Rachmaninoff's concertos by various pianists of the second half of the 20th century; each of them left an important trace in history of piano art.
The first, "juvenile" concert is performed by Viktor Yeresko, a recognized interpreter of Rachmaninoff's music (his repertoire includes all piano works of the composer) and continuer of genuine author's performing traditions.
A large-scale, epic and dramatic Concerto No. 2 is featured in the rendition by the great Sviatoslav Richter, one of the most prominent personalities of the 20th century world pianism. Richter does not copy Rachmaninoff creating a disputable yet breathtaking image of the music.
A most virtuosic, lyric and expressive Concerto No. 3 is played by the English pianist Peter Donohoe, whose sharp and tragic rendition of Rachmaninoff once astonished the listeners and jury of the Tchaikovsky International Competition.
A more rarely performed Concerto No. 4, which was finished by the composer when he was an emigrant, was recorded by Nikolai Petrov, who is not a 'Rachmaninoff's' pianist as it may seem but who came up with his own hearing of the music.
The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is performed by Sergey Dorensky, a remarkable pianist and teacher. Many of his pupils are brilliant representatives of the traditions of the Russian piano school.
