This is a long file divided into the
following segments:
- Brief description of contents of
each of the eight CDs
- Introduction
- Howard Shelley
- Review of each CD including full
CD content detail
Brief content
description of each of the eight CDs
CD1:
Morceaux de Fantaisie Op. 3 (1892)
Ten Preludes Op. 23 (1903)
CD2:
Morceaux de Salon op. 10 (1893/4)
Moments Musicaux op. 16 (1896)
CD3:
PiaNo. Sonata No. . 2 in B flat minor
op. 36 (1913) original version
Morceaux de Fantaisie in G minor
(1899)
Three Nocturnes (1887/8)
Four Pieces (?1888)
CD4:
Thirteen Preludes op. 32 (1910)
Prelude in F Major (1891)
Prelude in D minor (1917)
CD5:
Etudes Tableaux Op. 33 (1911)
Etudes Tableaux Op. 39 (1916/17)
CD6:
Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor op. 28
(1907)
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor op.
36 (1931) revised version
CD7:
Variations on a Theme of Chopin Op.
22 (1902/03)
Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.
42 (1931)
Melodie in E major Op. 3 No.
3 (1940) revised version
CD8:
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
Rimsky-Korsakov – The Flight of the
Bumblebee
Kreisler – Liebeslied
Bizet – Minuet from L’Arlésienne
Suite No. 1
Schubert – Wohin?, from Die
schöne Müllerin
Mussorgsky – Hopak from Sorotchinsky
Fair
Bach – Prelude, from Violin Partita
in E Major
Bach – Gavotte from Violin Partita
in E Major
Bach – Gigue from Violin Partita
in E Major
Rachmaninov – Daisies Op. 38
No. 3
Mendelssohn – Scherzo from ‘A Midsunmmer
Night’s Dream’
Rachmaninov – Lilacs, Op. 21 No. 5
Behr – Polka de V R
Tchaikovsky – Lullaby Op. 16
No. 1
Kreisler - Liebesfreud
Introduction
These recordings were
issued in an 8-CD box set in 1993 bringing
together recordings made between 1978
and 1991 which are still available separately.
I had heard one or two of them over
the years and had been impressed but
it has only been over the last few weeks
that I have realised an ambition and
had the opportunity of listening to
the full set.
I was greatly impressed.
I had known that, over
the years, many of my fellow reviewers
had been equally won over by Shelley’s
poetic, refined readings that consistently
demonstrate his complete empathy with
Rachmaninov’s idiomatic style. Nicholas
Rast, for instance, singled out this
set for inclusion in the ‘Instrumental’
section of BBC Music Magazine’s
Top 1000 CDs Guide (BBC Worldwide
Publications, 1998). Shelley’s recordings
also had excellent reviews in the Penguin
Guide to Compact Discs and Gramophone’s
Classical Good CD Guide.
What
struck me immediately when I began to
assess this 8-CD set was the insightful
notes by Robert Matthew-Walker, especially
his introductory heading: ‘Rachmaninov’s
solo Piano music – the need for reassessment’.
In this introduction, Matthew-Walker
reminds us that Rachmaninov’s reputation
rests mostly on the four Piano concertos
and the Paganini Rhapsody. Little else
was known, virtually every other work
ignored after his death in 1943 until
the 1973 celebrations of the centenary
of Rachmaninov’s birth, when interest
in his symphonies, operas and chamber
and recital music was rekindled. Of
his solo piano music perhaps, only his
famous Prelude in C sharp minor (one
might say infamous in that he was haunted
by it and expected to play it as an
encore at so many of his recitals) remained
well known.
It is interesting,
too, to note how the Russian Revolution
marked a watershed in the composer’s
life and how his priorities had to shift
in consequence. In the 26 years from
1891 to 1917 Rachmaninov composed 39
works with opus numbers, but during
the remaining 26 years of his life he
added only six more. In exile, from
1917 to 1943 he had to support his family
and so an exhausting round of recitals
claimed much of his time that might
otherwise have been devoted to composition.
But then, for a good part of this period,
he felt himself out of joint with the
times and intimidated by the new fashions
in musical styles.
Rachmaninov was of
course famed as a virtuoso pianist of
legendary accomplishment. As a pianist
he had no peer. His music written for
solo piano understandably has considerable
technical insight. But Rachmaninov’s
piano writing is certainly not empty
display, it was never written just for
effect. There is great subtlety and
artistry in every piece – music of the
highest calibre.
Comparing these Shelley
recordings with those of Rachmaninov
*, one is impressed with how Shelley
so closely identifies with Rachmaninov’s
idiomatic style. Here, consistently,
is virtuosity of a very high order together
with refinement and elegance, wit, expressive
power, beauty and poetry. There is subtlety
of light and shade, dynamics and expression.
There is considerable thought and eloquence
given throughout even extending to the
pauses. Take just one example. Listen
to the amazing sensitivity and technical
skill in Shelley’s playing of the Prelude
No. 5 in G major from the Op. 32 Thirteen
Preludes - the conjoining of multiple
ripple patterns so lucidly and so lovingly
portrayed.
[* RCA’s 10-CD set
(RCA Victor Gold Seal 09026 61265 2)
‘Sergei Rachmaninov - The Complete Recordings’
published in 1992 comprised recordings
of Rachmaninov, himself, as soloist
in his Four Piano Concertos and Paganini
Rhapsody, and, as conductor, of his
Third Symphony and the Isle of the
Dead; plus solo Piano recordings
of music by many composers – as well
as some of his own compositions including
three of his Etudes Tableaux
(in C and E flat from Op. 33 and in
A minor from Op. 39) and eight Preludes
including three recordings of that famous
one in C-sharp Minor that haunted so
many of his recitals.]
Howard Shelley
For complete biographical
details of Howard Shelley I would refer
readers to his agent’s web site – www.carolinebairdartists.co.uk/html/cbartists.htm
Howard
Shelley is not just renowned as a concert
pianist (especially celebrated as an
interpreter of Rachmaninov par excellence)
but also as a conductor with the London
Philharmonic, London Symphony and Royal
Philharmonic Orchestras and many other
orchestras throughout the world. He
has held positions of Associate and
Principal Guest Conductor with the London
Mozart Players in a close relationship
of over twenty years and he has toured
with them across the globe. Shelley
has also been Principal Conductor of
Sweden’s Uppsala Chamber Orchestra and
works closely with Camerata Salzburg.
He has worked with many other chamber
orchestras.
He has made many recordings
for Chandos, Hyperion and EMI including
this award-winning set of Rachmaninov’s
complete solo Piano music, plus Rachmaninov’s
concertos, plus series of Mozart, Hummel,
Mendelssohn, Moscheles and Cramer concertos
as well as all Gershwin’s works for
Piano and orchestra and a series of
British concertos including Alwyn, Bridge,
Howells, Rubbra, Scott, Tippett and
Vaughan Williams.
The Reviews
Howard Shelley plays the complete Piano
Music of
Sergei RACHMANINOV
(1873-1943)
HYPERION CDS44041/8
CD1:
Morceaux de Fantaisie
Op. 3 (1892)
No. 1 Elégie in E minor
No. 2 Prelude in C sharp minor
No. 3 Mélodie in E major
No. 4 Polichinelle
No. 5 Sérénade in B flat
minor
Ten Preludes Op. 23 (1903)
No. 1 in F sharp minor
No. 2 in B flat minor
No. 3 in D minor
No. 4 in D major
No. 5 in G minor (1901)
No. 6 in E flat major
No. 7 in C minor
No. 8 in A flat major
No. 9 in E flat minor
No. 10 in G flat major
recorded on 15, 16 September 1982, 19
April 1983
HYPERION CDS44041 [59:34]
Available separately on HYPERION CDA
66081
Appropriately, one
might think, this first CD kicks off
with Rachmaninov’s five-piece Morceaux
de Fantaisie of 1892. The set includes
that Prelude in C sharp minor a
piece that was to haunt him throughout
his career as a virtuoso pianist. It
was composed, the first of the set,
in 1892 for the 19-year-old composer-pianist’s
professional debut. It was to become
his most internationally famous composition
and travelled the world with him. 1920s
New York even had a jazz version played
by the Paul Whiteman Band, which incidentally
Rachmaninov enjoyed. It certainly spread
the fame of the young composer, so much
so that by the time he reached his late
twenties, he was known to a large international
public. On the other hand, its immense
popularity came to be a curse to him
when he became a touring virtuoso; so
many audiences insisted on hearing it
as an encore. Howard Shelley’s thoughtful
reading plumbs its depths, the opening
section suggesting some dark, mysterious
tragedy before the grand theme defiantly
asserts itself.
The C sharp minor Prelude
is the second of the five Morceaux
de Fantaisie, dedicated to Arensky.
Heard together, they demonstrate an
impressive emotional range. The opening
piece is an eloquent, heart-felt ‘Elégie’,
the ‘Mélodie’ with its plaintive
ostinato is tenderly romantic, the whimsical
‘Polichinelle’ points towards the bombast
and the bravura romanticism of the Piano
concertos, and the Spanish-like ‘Sérénade’
is attractively pensive and slightly
melancholy. Shelley delivers very characterful
readings that delight the ear and stimulate
the imagination.
The Ten Preludes include
two popular favourites: the attractive
proud melody and flowing romanticism
of No. 2 in B flat minor, and the splendour
of the assertive No. 5 in G minor with
its meltingly lovely trio that surely
equals anything in the concertos.
The first of the Preludes
in F sharp minor is beautiful, sylvan,
dreamy; the enigmatic No. 3 in D minor
is slightly assertive and vaguely militaristic;
Nos. 4 in D major and 6 in E flat major
return to tenderness and dreams with
yet more touching melodies enchantingly
and most poetically played. Nos. 7 in
C minor, 8 in A flat major and 9 in
E flat minor have rippling chords in
common; although pleasant enough, they
do not reach the same level of inspiration
as the others in the set. The lovely
final Prelude in G flat major is a deeper
creation, bitter-sweet and nostalgic.
CD2:
Morceaux de Salon op.
10 (1893/4)
Nocturne in A minor
Valse in A major
Barcarolle in G minor
Mélodie in E minor
Humoresque in G minor
Romance in F minor
Mazurka in D flat major
Moments Musicaux op. 16
(1896)
Andantino in B flat minor
Allegretto in E flat minor
Andante cantabile in B minor
Presto in E minor
Adagio sostenuto in D flat major
Maestoso in C major
recorded on 11, 12 April 1985
HYPERION CDS44042 [56:17]
Available separately on HYPERION CDA66184
Rachmaninov’s Morceaux
de Salon, composed during
December 1893 and January 1894, were
conceived during a period of depression
and consequently the inspiration tends
to be second-drawer.
The opening ‘Nocturne’
quotes from Tchaikovsky’s ‘memorial’
Trio, written in memory of Nicholas
Rubinstein. It is a curious piece beginning
in melancholy and shifting to a rhythm
that is hardly associated with a Nocturne
or lullaby for it almost canters rather
than gently rocks. The pieces are deemed
‘salon’ and the beginning of the second
‘Valse’ seems to confirm this description
but the piano writing soon becomes so
decoratively complex and so virtuosic
that the music is elevated above the
genre. As Robert Matthew-Walker observes
"… in the relative major, [it]
exhibits a ghostly textural reminiscence
of Chopin’s A flat major trio."
Shelley makes the rippling waters of
the comparatively well-known ‘Barcarolle’
glisten. The Mélodie follows
logically on from the ‘Barcarolle’ the
Piano musing over the ripples before
the melody broadens out to a more overt
statement of its beauty. The playful
‘Humoresque’ is full of joie-de-vivre
with a touch of poignancy. ‘Romance’
is more inhibited and elusive, a poem
of regret. The final item is a ‘Mazurka,
the longest piece of the set at nearly
five minutes, is brash and confident,
majestic and fiery.
The Moments Musicaux
are all related using a theme stated
at the outset of the ‘Andantino’. It
has a haunting, magical quality, and
a sense of remoteness and loss. It seems
almost improvisatory and for much of
its span one might easily visualise
an unrelenting but varying pattern of
pattering rain on the still surface
of a lake. This patterning is discernible
too in the following ‘Allegretto’ but
a definite romantic idea emerges and
there is material and atmosphere reminiscent
of the Piano concertos. The ‘Andante
cantabile’ is a song of Slavonic melancholy,
wholly Russian, a very slow variation,
deliberate and almost funereal. The
‘Presto’ is a deluge of left-hand sextuplets
against a rising quasi-militaristic
idea; while the lovely rocking ‘Adagio’
is a gentle sweet contemplation. The
final ‘Maestoso’ surges majestically
with the theme intricately woven into
florid passage-work.
CD3:
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor
op. 36 (1913) original version
Morceaux de Fantaisie
in G minor (1899)
Song Without Words
Piece in D minor (1917)
Fughetta in F major (1899)
Fragments (1917)
Oriental sketch (1917)
Three Nocturnes (1887/8)
No. 1 in F sharp minor
No. 2 in F major
No. 3 in C minor
Four Pieces (?1888)
Romance in F sharp minor
Prelude in E flat minor
Mélodie in E major
Gavotte in D major
recorded on 17, 18 July 1985
HYPERION CDS 44043 [59:36]
Available separately on HYPERION CDA66198
Rachmaninov’s Second
Sonata in B flat minor was written at
the same time as The Bells,
in Rome where he had taken his family
for a six-month sojourn in 1912/13.
The first movement, at one point, actually
suggests tolling bells. It is a kaleidoscopic
and capricious movement: it glitters,
it dances, it is pensive, it postures,
there is a hint of a cake-walk and syncopation
and it echoes the bravura sections of
the Third Piano Concerto
The sweet reveries
of the second movement enchant. As Robert
Matthew-Walker in an untypical flight
of fancy describes it thus (he does
not mention whether this is his visual
interpretation or that of the composer):
"It is a quiet summer’s day in
Southern Russia, with the butterflies
gently fluttering against the rich colours
of the motionless roses and lilacs in
full bloom, the grass warmed with haze,
the earth full yet No. t damp underfoot."
This is one of Rachmaninov’s loveliest
slow movements. The finale is bursting
in energy and again there are echoes
of the fiery sections of the Third Piano
Concerto. Rachmaninov would revise this
B flat minor Second Sonata in 1931 (see
review of it on CD 6)
The remainder of CD3
comprises shorter pieces. First three
separate miniatures lasting just over
one minute each: the swiftly moving
and rippling Morceau de Fantaisie
in G minor (1899) was the first
work completed by Rachmaninov after
the disastrous premiere of his First
Symphony; Song Without Words
is a much earlier little gem (1887),
sentimentally lyrical; and Piece in
D minor is even earlier (1884) but shows
an impressive early assurance, swift
and romantic. Fughetta in F major
is nicely classical, poised and lucid.
Fragments comes from the period
in the weeks immediately before Rachmaninov
fled Russia and the Bolshevik revolution.
It has all the nostalgia for a way of
life gone for ever. Oriental Sketch
from the same period refers No. t to
the geographical region but to the Orient
Express, Kreisler thought the repeated-note
figure reminded him of that great train.
Rachmaninov’s Three
Nocturnes in F sharp minor, F major
and C minor respectively are from 1887/8
and they are all sweetly melodic although
they are hardly restful through much
of their length, in tempi and dynamics.
The CD closes with Four Pieces
dating from about 1897. These are little
gems too. The opening ‘Romance’ shares
the same key and tender utterances as
the First Piano Concerto; the ‘Prelude’
is a tussle between a repeated melodramatic
figure and a more relaxed gentle melody.
Mélodie has one of those gorgeous
melting Rachmaninov tunes and the final
Gavotte charms.
CD4:
Thirteen Preludes op. 32 (1910)
No. 1 in C major
No. 2 in B flat minor
No. 3 in E major
No. 4 in F minor
No. 5 in G major
No. 6 in F minor
No. 7 in F major
No. 8 in A minor
No. 9 in A major
No. 10 in B minor
No. 11 in B major
No. 12 in G sharp minor
No. 13 in D flat major
Prelude in F Major (1891)
Prelude in D minor (1917)
recorded on September 17 and 18 1982
and 20 April 1983
HYPERION CDS44044 [48:13]
Available separately on HYPERION CDA66082
Rachmaninov’s group
of Thirteen Preludes Op. 32 of 1910
followed on from his Third Piano Concerto
premiered in New York the year previously
and the Liturgy of St John of Chrysostom.
The whole set was completed within nine
days in the summer (he wrote three of
them on August 23rd). Hurried
they may have been, but these Preludes
are top-drawer Rachmaninov. As a result
of this concentrated activity, maybe,
the pieces show an organic unity. It
is however interesting to note, as Robert
Matthew-Walker observes in his programme
note, "how the composer recalls
the C sharp minor the begetter of the
entire set of Preludes, in the pervasive
cell, and uses much of the material
from the first to be written (No. 5)
in the remaining twelve."
That haunting, dream-like
Prelude No. 5 in C minor is delectable.
Howard Shelley bestows magic upon its
gently coruscating ripples and
serene lyricism. If I had to pick but
one piece from this entire 8-disc set,
this would have to be my choice. The
other 12 preludes cover a wide variety
of tempi, rhythms and moods: the dainty
ballet-like figures of No. 2 in B flat
minor; No. 3 in E major’s bell-like
figures and the bold material reminiscent
of the Piano Concertos; the tenderly
romantic waltz that is No. 9 in A major;
the swiftly-moving restlessness of No.
8 in A minor; the folk-like quality
of No. 11 in B major and the deeply-felt
sorrow and fervour of No. 13 in D flat
major. Then there is the heart-felt
pathos and passion of the most extended
Prelude (at just over six minutes),
No. 10 in B minor. Another piece that
haunts.
This fourth CD is rounded
off with two more Preludes. The pretty
Prelude in F Major was composed two
weeks after completing his First Piano
Concerto. It muses on material from
the slow movement of that Concerto but,
interestingly, it was first published
not as a piano work but as the first
of Two Pieces for cello and Piano
. Listening to it, I was struck by how
much it reminded me of the piano music
of the English composer, John Ireland.
The Prelude in D minor from 1917 was
written shortly before Rachmaninov had
to flee his homeland and maybe here
we can detect a note of regret for the
passing of the old order?
CD5:
Etudes Tableaux Op. 33
(1911)
No. 1 in F minor
No. 2 in C major
No. 3 in C minor, Op. posth.
No. 4 = Op. 39 No. 6
No. 5 in D minor, Op. posth.
No. 6 in E flat minor
No. 7 in E flat major
No. 8 in G minor
No. 9 in C sharp minor
Etudes-Tableaux Op. 39
(1916/17)
No. 1 in C minor
No. 2 in A minor
No. 3 in F sharp minor
No. 4 in B minor
No. 5 in E flat minor
No. 6 in A minor
No. 7 in C minor
No. 8 in D minor
No. 9 in D major
recorded on 19 and 20 April 1983
HYPERION CDS44045 [58:50]
Available separately on HYPERION CDA66091
The very title Etudes-Tableaux
suggests extra-musical subjects but
‘tableaux’ in this context, should be
interpreted as meaning the rather indefinite
‘character’ rather than the definite
‘picture’. Rachmaninov observed: "I
do not believe in the artist disclosing
too much of his images. Let them paint
for themselves what it most suggests."
Nevertheless we know
that, in 1930, Rachmaninov provided
Ottorino Respighi with some sort of
programmatic guide to enable the Italian
composer to orchestrate five of these
Etudes-Tableaux. Some might argue
that Rachmaninov’s visualisations were
somewhat contrived, and visualised after
the pieces were composed. (The first
set of nine Etudes –Tableaux
were composed in 1911 and the second
set 1916/17. Three of the original set
were removed one, No. 4 being revised
in 1916, and incorporated (as No. 6
) into the second set; Nos. 3 and 5
from the first set were found after
the composer’s death and reinstated
into the first set.
The Etudes-Tableaux
contain many typical Rachmaninov fingerprints.
So, rather than tire the reader with
repetitive comments on all 17, I shall
restrict myself to commenting on a representative
selection including the five that Respighi
orchestrated. No. 1 of the Opus 31 set
begins assertively in march rhythm before
a delicate rippling theme of considerable
nostalgic beauty tries to break through
the harshness. In No. 2 that pleading
beauty is caught dancing in lonely remoteness.
No. 3, published posthumously, is much
more solemn, pensive; then a defiance
that is washed away by tender, quiescent
ripples before a heart-on-sleeve melody,
reminiscent of those of the Piano Concertos,
enters to beguile the ear. The next,
No. 4 is one of Rachmaninov’s call-to-arms
but with soothing gentle asides. Pressing
on to No. 7 in the set, and the only
Op. 33 Etude Tableau that Respighi
orchestrated, Rachmaninov suggested
a scene at a fair and there is certainly,
in the piano original, a jolly rowdiness
about. No. 8 is another reflective piece
of sylvan pellucid beauty.
Respighi orchestrated
four of the nine Op. 39 Etudes-Tableaux.
Rachmaninov’s wife suggested pictures
of seagulls and the sea for No. 2. On
hearing it, one is immediately reminded
of Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead
and his idée fixe, the
Dies irae. Both the Rachmaninov
piano original and the Respighi orchestration
are powerful and evocative. The Rachmaninov
visualisation of No. 6 was the fairy
tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the
brusque heavy opening piano chords certainly
suggest the wolf and the contrastingly
plaintive little heroine. No. 7, the
most extended of all the Etudes Tableaux
drew an untypically detailed description
for Respighi from Rachmaninov: "Let
me dwell on this a moment longer. I
am sure you will not mock a composer’s
caprices. The initial theme is a march.
The other theme represents the singing
of a choir. Commencing with the movement
in semiquavers [sixteenth notes] in
C minor and a little further on in E-minor,
a fine rain is suggested, incessant
and hopeless. This movement develops,
culminating in C minor – the chimes
of a church.
The finale returns
to the first theme, a march." The
imagination might suggest the funeral
of a great man, mourners hunched against
the rain. The piano intimates all of
this and Respighi’s imaginative orchestration
seems to substantiate such a picture.
Respighi’s orchestration
of No. 9 was based on Rachmaninov’s
visualisation of his final Etude-Tableau
as something of an oriental march and
perhaps a fairground and again the piano
original is equally evocative of such
a scene.
CD6:
Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor op. 28
(1907)
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor op.
36 (1931) revised version
HYPERION CDS44046 [57:09]
rec. 24 and 25 January 1982
Available separately on HYPERION CDA66047
In November 1906, Rachmaninov
deciding that he needed to have a break
from the tensions of social unrest in
Russia and the responsibilities of conducting
at the Bolshoi, settled with his family
in Dresden. It was here that he worked
simultaneously on three works: his opera
Mona Vanna, the Symphony No.
2 and the First Piano Sonata. With CD6,
of this set, we arrive at this latter
work, the most extensive and most formidable
of his solo Piano works. Howard Shelley
rises magnificently to its considerable
challenges realising its symphonic stature
and bringing poetic sensibility to the
lovely slow middle movement as well
as strength and stamina in the outer
movements of this masterpiece of Piano
writing that spans some 37 minutes.
Rachmaninov said that the Sonata’s three
movements were suggested by Goethe’s
Faust portraying Faust, Gretchen
and Mephistopheles and the flight to
Brocken as in Liszt’s Faust Symphony.
The daintiness and vulnerability
of the central movement clearly suggests
the femininity of Gretchen and there
is wry humour in the early sections
of the fiery and passionate Finale,
so full of Mephistopholean strutting
and mockery. Incidentally the closing
section of this Sonata’s Finale alludes,
somewhat appropriately, to the composer’s
idée fixe, the Dies
irae
Rachmaninov’s revision
of his Second Piano Sonata (originally
written in 1913.) lightens its texture
and tightens its arguments thus:-
1st
Movement 2nd Movement 3rd
Movement.
Original version 11:19
7:36 7:21
Revised version 8:01 5:57
5:41.
[The original version is on CD 3 of
this set and reviewed in the appropriate
section above.]
Opinions vary as to
the effectiveness of the revisions.
Rachmaninov, himself, passing judgement
on the original version said, "So
many voices are moving simultaneously,
and it is too long ..." Rachmaninov’s
close friend Horowitz felt that the
1931 revision was too thorough-going.
Rachmaninov concurred and suggested
that Horowitz might like to produce
a version himself. Robert Matthew-Walker
suggests pianists today are more like
to be drawn to the first version but
both have merits and they should both
be considered. The opening movement
music, in the revised version differs
in character. For instance the bell-like
passages seem to be emphasised more
strongly while the cake-walk-like figures
and syncopations are evened out somewhat.
The essential character of the lovely
central movement is maintained and,
I think, enhanced.
CD7:
Variations on a Theme of Chopin Op.
22 (1902/03)
Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.
42 (1931)
Melodie in E major Op. 3 No.
3 (1940) revised version
HYPERION CDS44047 [51:42]
rec. November 1978
Available separately on Hyperion CDA66009
These two sets of solo
piano variations are from opposite ends
of the composer’s career. The Chopin
Variations was Rachmaninov’s first
big solo piano work. The theme is one
of Chopin’s Opus 28 Preludes. The Corelli
Variations was his last original work
for solo Piano . In this instance, the
theme, interestingly, is not by Corelli,
but rather an anonymous tune known as
‘La Folia’ used by Corelli in a work
of his own. The Chopin Variations
have echoes of Rachmaninov’s Second
Piano Concerto and the Corelli Variations
are not unlike the variations of the
famous Paganini Rhapsody for
Piano and orchestra composed three years
or so later.
The form of the Chopin
Variations is of interest. The 22
variations are grouped
irregularly, giving
an outline of a four-movement sonata.
(First movement: variations 1 to 10;
second movement: variations 11 to 18;
the ‘scherzo’: variations 19 and 20;
and the ‘Finale’: variations 21 and
22. In most cases, each variation is
longer than its predecessor giving the
impression of a cumulative journey of
wholly organic growth. The final 22nd
variation has a duration, in Shelley’s
recording, of just over 5 minutes.
After the grandiose
statement of the theme, the opening
three variations proceed in Bach-like
classicism; the single-line first variation
becoming the counter-subject for the
second and canonic material for the
third. Classicism melds beautifully
with typical Rachmaninov ‘heart-on-sleeve’
romanticism in these variations. Throughout
these variations Rachmaninov exhibits
an assure mastery of large-scale structure.
The Corelli Variations
is dedicated to Fritz Kreisler, who
introduced the theme (see above) to
Rachmaninov. Rachmaninov had recorded
Sonatas by Beethoven, Grieg and Schubert
with Kreisler. Compared with the Chopin
Variations this work is leaner and
seems to have been conceived in one
sweep. The Corelli Variations
are set in Rachmaninov’s favourite key
of D minor. The first 13 variations
share this key and they culminate in
a cadenza in D flat major. As in the
Paganini Variations, this key
is the emotional heart of the work.
D minor returns, for the four variations
before the coda building up to a fiery
conclusion.
Howard Shelley delivers
bravura performances of both sets of
variations, poignancy and delicacy with
the utmost clarity in the fastest passages
and steeliness in the more bombastic
CD8:
Rimsky-Korsakov – The Flight of the
Bumblebee
Kreisler – Liebeslied
Bizet – Minuet from L’Arlésienne
Suite No. 1
Schubert – Wohin?, from Die
schöne Müllerin
Mussorgsky – Hopak from Sorotchinsky
Fair
Bach – Prelude, from Violin Partita
in E Major
Bach – Gavotte from Violin Partita
in E Major
Bach – Gigue fronm Violin Partita
in E Major
Rachmaninov – Daisies Op. 38
No. 3
Mendelssohn – Scherzo from ‘A Midsummer
Night’s Dream’
Rachmaninov – Lilacs Op. 21 No.
5
Behr – Polka de V R
Tchaikovsky – Lullaby Op. 16
No. 1
Kreisler - Liebesfreud
recorded on 20, 2l and 22 February 1991
HYPERION CDS44048 [45:48]
Available separately on HYPERION CDA66486
In Rachmaninov’s youth
learning the classics via piano transcriptions
was the norm. In those pre-radio, pre-gramophone
days, one learnt largely by playing;
concerts were rare events. Rachmaninov,
therefore, regarded transcriptions as
a normal part of music-making. Some
editions of his own later works, thought
to be transcriptions (e.g. ‘Daises’
and ‘Lilacs’) are in fact the original
versions.
All Rachmaninov’s transcriptions
are of a very high technical and artistic
order.
All are faithful to
the spirit and character of the originals
but with added dimensions of atmosphere
and dramatic evocation. The writing
is often very elaborate, and the chord
clusters dense, challenging all but
the most virtuosic pianists. Howard
Shelley rises to their challenges with
aplomb delivering readings full of dash
and sparkle and sensitivity.
Rachmaninov’s first
transcription for solo piano, written
at the time (September 1900) when he
was undergoing psychotherapy with Dr
Dahl, was the ‘Minuet’ from Bizet’s
L’Arlésienne Suite No.
1. Howard Shelley plays Rachmaninov’s
second transcription of this work made
some twenty years later, published in
1923. He makes the music trip along
lightly and merrily through the staccato
rhythms and eloquently through the pride
and languor of the middle section.
Shelley’s reading of
the Schubert Die schöne Müllerin
makes the mill waters swirl and shine
while suggesting the emotional turmoil
of the lovesick boy; while the transcription
of Mussorgsky’s Hopak is a swift-moving,
bombastic virtuoso showcase..
The Bach transcriptions
are wonderfully lucid, late romanticism
lying compatibly side-by-side with classical
purity. Shelley’s Prelude is a model
of clarity and elegance, and his Gavotte
refined and dainty with a hint of wry
humour.
The Flight of the
Bumblebee is ‘busyness’ personified.
Rachmaninov’s most famous transcription
- of Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s
Dream Scherzo - has always been
popular. The two sophisticated Kreisler
transcriptions are delicious, lovely,
lilting and sensual. Howard adds poetry
and charm to the delicate, pellucid
beauty of the Tchaikovsky Lullaby.
The Behr Polka is a charming glittering
salon trifle – something of the world
of operetta.
Lilacs and roses adorned
the gate leading to the front door of
Rachmaninov’s country estate at Ivanovka
. Their image must have meant a great
deal to the composer especially during
his years of exile. The two transcriptions
of Rachmaninov’s own works are delectable.
Both fragrantly evocative: dainty ‘Daisies’;
and the ‘Lilacs’ (originally a song)
arpeggios suggest lines of nodding lilacs
swaying in a breeze. [There was also
a ‘White Lilac Lady’ an admirer who
sent Rachmaninov a bouquet of the flowers;
yet they never met.]
Ian Lace
Howard Shelley
