Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, Alexander Melnikov, Elena Brilowa :: Rachmaninov: Etudes-Tableaux; Corelli Variations; Six Poems

A very worthwhile CD

Vlad | 07/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Classical used to be the only thing I would listen to. However it has several drawbacks which made me diversify into other genres. While this has partly been to do with changing music tastes, other reasons have been:



-a lot of the things have already been said. Richter, Horowitz, Van Cliburn, Gould, etc. Apart from the likes of Pletnev, good modern-day pianists do not seem to be as widely sold.

-new works are not composed (I'm referring to Rachmaninoff and all the other long-gone composers). This leads to people playing the same stuff over and over, and when coupled with my first point, leads to same stuff being played over and over without anything new/interesting happening.



But CDs such as this one give me hope for the "classical" genre. Melnikov's playing is very good (both technically and musically), sounds more interesting to me than Volodos. Judging by this CD alone I also prefer him to Matsuev for the same reason as with Volodos - more musicality.



The Corelli variations and the poems are rarer than his "mainstream" stuff. Coupled with a very good performance that makes this CD an inspiring listen. I would definately buy another Melnikov CD and would recommend it.



A small -ve for those obsessed with the technical aspect of a recording: heavy breathing is sometimes heard and a couple of seconds of strange tapping/knocking during a loud passage which I did not find intrusive/detracting from the overall experience."