Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, Howard Shelley :: Serge Rachamninov: Variations on a theme of Chopin, Op.22; Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op.43

A definitive modern Rachmaninov

Gene DeSantis | Philadelphia, PA United States | 12/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've played two of Howard Shelley's Rachmaninov albums and though I will always reserve a spot in my heart for Van Cliburn's Third Concerto I must say this man has to be the best interpreter of his music since the composer himself. He is excellent in everything, but he outdoes himself in the Chopin Variations, the quintessence of the man, a work of ethereal beauty and cosmic melancholy. The Corelli Variations aren't quite up on the same rarefied level -- it's an angular, almost minimalist Rachmaninov -- but as Robert Matthew-Walker writes in his informative liner booklet the man had been through a lot; thanks to the Russian Revolution and the need to make a living he wrote only six works in his last 26 years, so we can excuse him. Few have ever asked what influence America in general and Gershwin in particular had on his music, especially in the Paganini Rhapsody, whose Art Deco shadings are unmistakable, and here to a lesser degree as well. Brilliant music, and brilliant music making, in any case.



The album ends with two short "encores", including a perfect transcription of the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream". The hand of God moved Rachmaninov, and we hear it in these transcendent performances.



The usual excellent Hyperion sound, too."