Rachmaninov Corelli Variations

Fifteen years have elapsed since Decca gave us Ashkenazy's much-praised original LP coupling of the Corelli Variations and second set of the Etudes-tableaux (SXL6604, 5/73—nla). What we get here is not refurbishment, but brand new (i.e. 1985 recorded) versions—and predictably there's a striking difference in the sound. 'Striking' is perhaps the operative word in some of the more challenging of the Op. 39 pieces: there is just an occasional glint of steel. But for the most part the new CD is clearer, brighter and truer than the slightly confined albeit mellow earlier record.

Yes, Olga Kern does appear in her photographs to be quite beautiful, glamorously, gorgeously, gloriously beautiful. Try not to hold that against her because, under all her appearance of beauty, Kern is actually a great musician and the proof is in her disc of transcriptions and variations by Rachmaninov. Kern's physical beauty is matched and surpassed by her tone, her technique, and, best of all, her interpretations. Her tone is clear, deep, rich, strong, and warm. Her technique is effortless, flawless, and just about beyond belief. And her interpretations are even better.

All of Rachmaninov’s music - from his earliest student compositions to his final masterpieces – has been collected together for the first time on 32 CDs, in what is definitively the most complete and comprehensive edition of Rachmaninov’s works ever released.

It was a clever idea to place all three of Rachmaninoff's large sets of variations on a single CD (in descending order of popularity and familiarity). The Paganini Rhapsody needs no introduction. The Corelli Variations are based on "La Folia," a theme used in several works from the Baroque period. Actually, the theme is from Portugal and not "of" Corelli at all, although Corelli made particularly good use of it in a composition of his own. When this fact was brought to Rachmaninoff's attention, he agreed to strike Corelli's name from the music's cover – but not from its title page! Nevertheless, the work has been known as the Corelli Variations ever since. The Chopin Variations are based on the C-minor Prelude from the Polish master's Op. 28 collection. This is the same prelude that Barry Manilow used as the basis of the song "Could it Be Magic?" in the 1970s.

One of today's most popular and most critically-acclaimed pianists, Daniil Trifonov records an album of Rachmaninov Variations. Album includes solo performances of Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Variations on a Theme of Chopin and Trifonov's own composition, Rachmaniana. Also included is the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for which Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra join.