Track Listings (24) - Disc #1| All Artists: Sergey Rachmaninov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vovka Ashkenazy Title: Rachmaninov: Piano Transcriptions Members Wishing: 0 Total Copies: 0 Label: Decca Import Release Date: 9/10/2002 Album Type: Import Genres: Pop, Classical Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Ballets & Dances, Polkas, Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 028947029120 |
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Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vovka Ashkenazy :: Rachmaninov: Piano Transcriptions
 | Sergey Rachmaninov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vovka Ashkenazy Rachmaninov: Piano Transcriptions Genres: Pop, Classical
Although he has recorded almost all of Rachmaninov's music, Vladimir Ashkenazy is not a pianist one would expect to be attracted to the composer's transcriptions--or to play them as well as he does on this disc. Ashkenazy ... more » |
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Amazon.com Although he has recorded almost all of Rachmaninov's music, Vladimir Ashkenazy is not a pianist one would expect to be attracted to the composer's transcriptions--or to play them as well as he does on this disc. Ashkenazy has a deserved reputation for sobriety, seriousness, and faithfulness to the composer's texts. These qualities do not usually accord with a taste for transcriptions, which celebrate the resources of the piano and the legerdemain of the virtuoso. But time seems to have softened Ashkenazy's puritanism. It's hard to think of anyone--save the composer himself--who has ever played so many of these transcriptions so well. In Rachmaninov's arrangement of the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ashkenazy attacks the famously difficult passages--with their crossed hands, thick chords, and awkwardly positioned repeated notes--and achieves results superior to those of pianists who are considered specialists in this kind of literature. The energy, delicacy, and transparency of his interpretation make Bolet's sound labored and Wild's heavy-handed. Ashkenazy's approach to these pieces resembles Rachmaninov's: lean, swift, and unsentimental. His performance of the transcription of Tchaikovsky's song "Lullaby," for example, moves at a dry-eyed pace and with a disciplined rhythm similar to that heard on the composer's own recording. But unsentimental does not mean lack of feeling. In this piece, and elsewhere on the disc, Ashkenazy surpasses his peers in capturing Rachmaninov's poignancy and passion, as well as his nostalgia for the Russia he would never see again. --Stephen Wigler Similar CDs
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CD ReviewsA break from the ordinary for piano lovers Sebastian Fernandez | Tampa, Florida United States | 05/24/2005 (5 out of 5 stars) "I am one of those people that need the piano to have a significant role when listening to classical music, that is why I focus mainly on piano concertos, sonatas for solo piano or piano and violin, trios, quartets and quintets, and of course any other form for solo piano. Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers, so my curiosity was piqued when I saw this CD available, especially since the performer is one of the best interpreters of Rachmaninoff. The final result is satisfying and provides a break from the ordinary. Ashkenazy's interpretations are proficient and the melodies are crisp and beautiful. I had access to the original compositions, and it was interesting to contrasts them with the piano transcriptions, since aside from the obvious differences (due to the transcription), I believe that the spirit of the original pieces was maintained. In the case of Bach's Partita for Violin in E Major, we get three of the six movements, and even though the tone of the piece changes a little when compared to the interpretation in violin, a little lighter hearted, the result is impressive. The other piece that caught my attention was the "Flight of the Bumblebee", which I have to rate as the second best piano interpretation I have ever heard. And the comparison is not even fair, since the one that takes first place is a performance on eight pianos from the Lugano festival, including pianists of the caliber of Leif Ove Andsnes, Lang Lang, Evgeny Kissin, Michael Pletnev, etc. The last ten tracks are original compositions by Rachmaninoff, including his Six Morceaux (duets for piano) interpreted by Vladimir Ashkenazy and his son, and four other short pieces including the American National Anthem! I have not had the chance to listen to the Six Morceaux before, so that was an added bonus for me. This CD will be especially attractive for those people that are looking for something different in the piano category. Trust me, you will enjoy it!" BRAVISSIMO!!!! Dr. Robert S. Bean | Winter Springs, FL United States | 12/04/2004 (5 out of 5 stars) "Vladimir Ashkenazy, considered by some to be the world's greatest living pianist, has, to me, been the "gold standard" of perfection in everything I have ever heard him perform. This recording is no exception. His solo renditions of the Bach Violin Partitia in E major suite is flawless from the outset. One of the major reasons I bought this recording is that I had never heard the transcription of the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's "Incidental Music to a Midsummernight's Dream" performed by solo piano--I humbly admit I didn't know it existed. Ashkenazy performs it with his usual techincal brilliance--moreover, he, on a solo piano, rivals some recordings of the composition made by major symphonies!! I simply cannot fathom how his fingering technique is so perfect that he plays the long solo (taken by the flute in an orchestral rendition) at the close of the piece. To those who have accused Ashkenazy of a "clangy" style in performance, I say this is a "must have" for you!! Ashkenazy's control of the keyboard is stunning, to use a proverbial understatement. On this recording he is also joined by his son, Vovka, and his wife Dody, both excellent pianists. (His wife is of Icelandic origin, nee' Thorunn Johanesdottir--Thorunn being transalted as "The Handmaiden of Thor." She is a wonderful "Handmaiden" for her husband, although she could just as well perform greatly on her own.) I am also looking forward to more performances by Vovka. Oh yes. Just wait until you hear the "Flight of the Bumblebee." I've heard this work performed on almost all major instruments (tuba, no less!), and was sick of it--until Ashkenazy's rendition!! This is a MUST HAVE RECORDING!!" Great Ashkenazy recording of Rachmaninov Amy | 08/01/2007 (5 out of 5 stars) "In an age of recorded music, transcriptions enable music lovers to easily access virtuosos to display their talent. Bach metamorphosed simple hymn tunes into complex chorale preludes for organ; Liszt realized Schubert songs, among a multitude of other composers. Rachmaninov made a small but significant contribution to the genre and it's his take on the art that Ashkenazy celebrates on this recording. Rachmaninov's distinctive style is clear in all the arrangements from Schubert's song Wohin? to his transcription of Rimsky Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee which can sting the fingers of the most dextrous pianist. Ashkenazy, a long time champion of Rachmaninov's music shows off with a technical ease that borders on inhuman. The reworking of Tchaikovsky's Lullaby embodies all that's best in the art of transcription. It's both a loving and a distinctly personal poetic statement. It's not music that will be to everyone's tastes. But as an illustration of creative imagination and virtuosic keyboardism, this Decca disc is as good as it gets.
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