Rachmaninov Chopin

The most important work in this DVD is the film of Alexis Weissenberg playing Petrushka. From the notes: "through the inventiveness of its framing, the subtlety of its composition and the attention paid to the photography, Petrushka, interpreted by Alexis Weissenberg and directed by Ake Falck, is a unique example of a musical cinematographic film.This film also had a considerable impact on Alexis Weissenberg's career. Notes by Michel Glotz, his Manager and friend.

Although Sergei Rachmaninov considered himself first and foremost a composer, the last two decades of his life found him knee-deep in his “second career” as a touring concert pianist and recording artist. In 1992, RCA Gold Seal brought out all of Rachmaninov’s recorded performances in a 10-disc set, now reprinted as a space-saving budget box.

In the great tradition of Russian pianist-composers, Trifonov may be rightly considered an heir to Rachmaninov - a passionate virtuoso at the keyboard and a Romantic spirit in his own compositions. With this album, the young artist pays tribute to his illustrious musical forefather with a fascinating programme comprising three sets of Rachmaninov Variations: the hyper-virtuostic Variations on a theme of Corelli and the rare Variations on a Theme of Chopin for solo piano, along with the famous and much-loved Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra.

Yevgeny Sudbin's inquiring mind, unflappable fingers, and huge heart mesh with extraordinary concentration and intensity, resulting in some of the most carefully thought-through, powerfully projected, and fastidiously executed Rachmaninov interpretations I've ever heard. A few general comments equally pertain to all of the selections. In Sudbin's hands, inner voices aren't gently coaxed from the massive, orchestrally inspired textures for ear-catching effect, but instead emerge as integral and active components.

Nikolai Lugansky has established an extraordinary reputation playing Chopin and Rachmaninov, actively performing works of both composers all over the world. This outstanding 9-CD boxed set includes many of Lugansky's most celebrated recordings, having garnered the Diapason d'Or for the complete Chopin Etudes in 2000, Rachmaninoff Preludes and Moments Musicaux in 2001 and Chopin Preludes in 2002, as well as his acclaimed first disc of Beethoven Sonatas that includes the "Moonlight" and "Appassionata".

One of the greatest cellists of the twentieth century, a performer who combined technical brilliance with soulful expressiveness, Danil Shafran was born in 1923, in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Shafran's first teacher was his father, who was the principal cellist of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.