Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, John Lill :: Rakhmaninov: Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 33 & Op. 39

Listen to John Lill's Rachmaninov!!

Paul Rossi | Walla Walla, WA | 01/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Performances of Sergei Rachmaninov's piano concertos and piano music abound. Most people know the outstanding recordings by Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Horowitz, and Earl Wild. However, John Lill is a very talented Rachmaninov interpreter, as well.On this CD, Lill gives technically sound, committed performances of the Op. 33 and 39 "Etudes-Tableaux." His technique is outstanding on all the pieces. The opening study in F Minor really opens things up nicely. Lill gives it an aristocratic flair that draws the listener in. He has complete mastery of all the runs, contrasting sections, and nuances of the "Etudes-Tableaux."Personally, I find the Op. 39 set the most compelling and haunting. The second piece in this set, in A minor, repeatedly comes back to haunt me. Rachmaninov centered it around the "Dies Irae" from the Requiem Mass, that haunting piece that recurs throughout Rachmaninov's compositional output. Lill plays it with a sort of haunting, chilling air that really reveals some of the depression that Rachmaninov experienced in his life. The sixth study in this set, also in A minor, is based on the story of "Little Red Riding Hood." Rachmaninov effectively communicates the wolf's growling in the lower piano registers, followed by frantic passages in the upper registers as the little girl tries to escape. Lill makes all these images come alive in his playing.I heartily recommend this CD. Hopefully, it will put John Lill's name even more on the map as a masterful Rachmaninov interpreter."