This reissue has several things to commend it. To begin
with, the recording from 1987 remains top-class. It allows subtle details
of orchestral and piano textures to be heard with the utmost clarity,
while also building to some rich and sumptuous climaxes, as this composer
inevitably demands. The performances too are compelling, the conductor
and pianist showing a real rapport in delivering this gloriously romantic
music. And the coupling is useful, featuring works which are not necessarily
paired so often.
In the First Concerto, Vladimir Ashkenazy is the leading
competitor, as he is in the Rhapsody too. If anything he is even more
exciting a soloist than Pletnev, since his rhythmic attack has that
little bit more bite. Where Pletnev scores is in the way he conveys
a truly romantic sweep in his performance, setting his stall right from
the beginning with an impressive virtuoso gesture which is perhaps as
fine as it could be. As the music proceeds, so the ebb and flow of the
musical line, with its Russian romantic indulgence, is treated with
a sense of rubato that understands the musical style completely. This
is a distinguished performance of a work which in fact is not quite
the apprentice piece its Opus 1 identification might suggest. Rachmaninov
made a thorough revision of the concerto in 1917, shortly before he
left Russia, never to return.
Perhaps the most successful creative enterprise of
Rachmaninov's final years was the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which
he completed in 1934. This an altogether tighter, less indulgent score,
which if anything needs an even closer rapport among the performers.
Pletnev and Pesek achieve a really compelling flow as the variations
succeed one another and the momentum builds. It is Rachmaninov's genius
which succeeds in making a single sweep out of so many short units,
of course, but the cogency of the performance cannot be denied. Once
again it is the subtle shadings which score most highly, rather than
the pounding intensity. As if to reinforce that such is their view,
the performances make a closing expression of farewell, slowing the
pace before the final throwaway gesture. This may not be the definitive
performance of a lifetime, but it is hugely enjoyable and has insights
galore.
Terry Barfoot
Mikhail Pletnev (piano)