
That's how we were taught to play in Russia: Rubinstein used to
give his historic recitals in Petersburg and Moscow. He used to
appear on the stage and say::Every note from Chopin is pure gold.
Listen!" And he played and we listened.
S.Rachmaninov (from A.J. and E. Swan Memoirs)
Throughout his Chopin recordings one feels Rachmaninov's articulation
and rhythm as indissoluble components of his true greatness in the
repertoire. Indeed colouristically and textually he is fascinating
- try the A minor Mazurka - even when he is at his most capricious
and the locus classicus of that is his 1930 recording of the B flat
minor Sonata. Here he extends the finale in a way not sanctioned
- shall we say - by Chopin but the result is one of uplifting power,
with Rachmaninov sculpting waves of impetus and not an undifferentiated
mf all the way through. For all its recasting his performance of
the sonata embraces all its moods, all its power and all its romance.
Jonathan
Woolf
The full text of the review see on www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev
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