Melodiya presents its new recording dedicated to the anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff in 2023. The CD features two piano cycles — Preludes, Op. 32, and Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, performed by the young pianist Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev.
The Morceaux de fantaisie were written by the young Rachmaninov in 1892, shortly after graduating from the conservatory. This cycle consists of five pieces, each having its special mood, as well as genre and thematic composition. Elegie, Prelude, Melody, Polichinelle, and Serenade are an integral part of the piano repertoire. The cycle of Preludes, Op. 32, was created in the 1910s and consists of thirteen piano pieces. The series of preludes completes the complete tonal circle of 24 major and minor keys, including all preludes written by the composer. While writing Opus 32, Rachmaninoff needed to expand the piano repertoire of his own works. Paradoxically, the composer in his letters complained about the difficulties he faced while composing miniatures: “I am really bad at writing small piano pieces. I dislike and have a hard time doing it,” he wrote to his friend, musicologist Nikita Morozov. The result was twenty-four piano preludes, which still form the basis of piano performance around the world.
Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev was born into a musical family. His grandmother was the famous pianist and teacher Tatiana Nikolaeva. Arseny began playing the piano at an early age, and at nine made his first appearance with an orchestra. Tarasevich-Nikolaev is a graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (class of Sergei Dorensky), winner of numerous domestic and international competitions, including the 2022 International Rachmaninoff Competition, and is now one of the leading Russian pianists of the younger generation.
