Rachmaninoff: 王羽佳

Star tenor Piotr Beczala presents a selection of romances by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, together with the acclaimed lied accompanist Helmut Deutsch. The romance was the most popular musical genre in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Russia, practised by professionals as well as amateurs. Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff both enriched this genre with their lyricism and melodic invention. Elevated by Deutsch’s splendid accompaniment, Beczala delivers these songs with a great sense for the Slavic idiom and meaning of the words, combined with colourful lyricism and italianità, perfectly fitting the Russian and cosmopolitan musical language of these two masters.

Alexander Scriabin, whose 150th anniversary we celebrated in 2022, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, one year his junior, were rivals at the Moscow Conservatory as students in both piano and composition. At the piano final exam in 1891, Rachmaninoff was awarded first prize and Scriabin second – it’s fascinating just to imagine what this rivalry between music history’s most famous classmates had been like. Subsequently, they went their separate ways; in particular, Scriabin became drawn to Nietzsche’s Übermensch theory and Blavatsky’s theosophy and his musical style changed drastically, leading to his so-called music of mysticism with the heavy use of progressive harmonies.

To mark the 150th anniversary of one of the most popular of all classical composers, Grammyr-winning conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and his 'Fabulous Philadelphians' present Rachmaninoff's Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3, and the symphonic poem Isle of the Dead. This release completes their two-part survey of the three symphonies and other major orchestral works and, like the first instalment of 2021, continues to build on the orchestra's incomparable Rachmaninoff legacy.

Inon Barnatan presents Rachmaninoff Reflections, offering some of the composer’s most cherished piano works, including his Moments musicaux, Prelude in G-Sharp Minor and Barnatan’s own arrangement of the Vocalise. Centrepiece of this project is Barnatan’s breathtaking new piano arrangement of the Symphonic Dances. Inon Barnatan is one of the most admired pianists of his generation (New York Times). His Pentatone discography consists of Time Traveler’s Suite (2021), Beethoven’s complete cello sonatas with Alisa Weilerstein (2022), as well as complete recordings of Beethoven’s piano concertos together with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Alan Gilbert (2019 and 2020).

Martha Argerich is an Argentine-Swiss classical concert pianist. She is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of all time.

This 8-CD set contains the works for piano solo by Sergei Rachmaninoff, 20-th century romantic, one of the greatest pianists of all time himself. In his iconic piano works he expresses his deepest personal emotions, from ecstatic joy and tolling of bells, to Slavic melancholy and utter tragedy. Many of his works became standard concert repertoire: the 24 Preludes, the Etudes-tableaux, the Moments Musicaux, the two Piano Sonatas and the two Variations sets on themes by Corelli and Chopin.

This album is a Rachmaninoff piano duo album by Miku Omine, who has made Rachmaninoff his life's work and whose performances and album are highly acclaimed, and Takako Takahashi, who won 5th place at the 12th International Chopin Piano Competition. In a live recording held at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan on October 20, 2023, two suites by Rachmaninoff, which can be said to be the pinnacle of two-piano works, and a suite of Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" arranged by Rachmaninoff for duet were recorded.

Martha Argerich is an Argentine-Swiss classical concert pianist. She is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of all time.