Rachmaninoff The Complete Piano Music DECCA 11CDs

Ashkenazy s Rachmaninov recordings whether of the concertos or the mature solo piano works have long led the field with their balance of contained muscularity and lyrical insight. --The Daily Telegraph. London

There is superb flair and panache about Ashkenazy s playing and his poetic feeling is second to none. --The Penguin Guide on 24 Preludes

The Piano Concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini are here in versions with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink: The combined virtues of soloists, conductor, orchestras and recording on the new Decca are really rather remarkable. --Gramophone on Piano Concerto No. 1

Product Description

Vladimir Ashkenazy is the pre-eminent interpreter of Rachmaninov s music, having championed it since the outset of his career. Ashkenazy is the only musician to record all of the composer s piano works. This collection includes all Rachmaninov s piano music, from his earliest compositions to the final masterpieces.

When Ashkenazy marked his 75th birthday (6 July 2012), he recorded a final album of Rachmaninov s music, called Rachmaninov Rarities. This album includes the Seven Pieces (Moments Musicaux) Op.10, three Nocturnes, and ten shorter early works, including an unpublished 'Song without Words', including world premieres of....

While the vast majority of the recording in this set are of digital-era provenance, the 11th CD includes earlier (analogue) versions of works included elsewhere in the set, including Ashkenazy s earlier thoughts on the Corelli Variations and the Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 39.

This is the first of a number of really compelling Rachmaninov products in 2014: it may not be an anniversary but 2014 is hugely significant, as this major 20th-century figure died in 1943, over 70 years ago. That means most markets no longer pay mechanicals on this ever-popular composer.

TRACKLISTING:
CD 1
Piano Concerto No.1 in F# minor, Op.1 (RCO / Haitink)
Piano Concerto No.4 in G minor, Op.40 (RCO / Haitink)
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43 (RCO / Haitink)

CD 2
Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18 (RCO / Haitink)
Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, Op. 30 (RCO / Haitink)

CD 3
Suites Nos.1 & 2 for 2 Pianos, Op.5 & 17 (André Previn)
Symphonic Dances, Op.45 (Previn)

CD 4
Preludes

CD 5
Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 (1985 recording)
Etudes-Tableaux Op.39

CD 6
Variations on a Theme of Chopin
Piano Sonata No.1 in D minor, Op.28

CD 7
Piano Sonata No.2 in Bb minor, Op.36
Etudes-Tableau Op.33
Russian Rhapsody for two Pianos (Previn)
Romance in G
Suite No.1 for two Pianos, Op.5 (Vovka Ashkenazy)

CD 8
Moments Musicaux, Op.16
Morceaux de Fantasie, Op.3
Fragments (1917)
Prelude in D minor, Op. posth. (1917)
Zdes khorosho, Op.21/7 (transcribed for piano)
Vocalise, Op.34/14

CD 9
Arrangements and transcriptions of works by Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Bizet, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Behr, Kreisler and Rachmaninov.
Six Pieces, Op.11
Waltz in A for 6 hands
Romance in A for 6 hands (Vovka Ashkenazy, Dódý Ashkenazy)
Italian Polka for 4 hands, piano and trumpet (Vovka Ashkenazy, Alastair Mackie tpt)

CD 10
Piano piece in Ab major
Morceaux de Salon, Op.10
Three Nocturnes
Four Pieces (originally Op.1)
Assorted rarities

CD 11 (BONUS CD)
Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op.42 (1973 recording)
Etudes-Tableaux Op.39 (1973 recording)
Two song arrangements (Daisies & Lilacs)
3 Etudes-Tableaux Op. 39/2,3 & 5 (1963 recording)