Rachmaninov: Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op42; Morceaux de fantaisie Op3

1. Variations on a Theme of Chopin, for piano, Op. 22
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
with Howard Shelley

2. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, for piano, Op. 42
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
with Howard Shelley

3. Morceaux de fantaisie (5), for piano, Op. 3 No. 3, Mélodie in E major
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
with Howard Shelley

4. Transcription for piano of Mendelssohn's "Scherzo" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," TN iii/7
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
with Howard Shelley

Tracks:

Variations on a theme of Chopin, op 22
Variations on a theme of Corelli, op 42
Melodie in E major, op 3 no 3
Scherzo from Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Customer Reviews:

A definitive modern Rachmaninov.......2005-12-27

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.

ESSENTIAL FOR RACHMANINOFF FANS.......2001-02-01

Shelley is heard to great advantage here. These two long sets of variations -- the Chopin Variations and the "Corelli" Variations (the theme was not in fact composed by Corelli) -- are rather difficult to bring off, and Shelley does so with great authority and in authentic Rachmaninovian style (very virtuosic but organized and a bit emotionally repressed). And the modern stereo recording sounds like a modern stereo recording, unlike the abysmal recording he was given for the complete Etudes-Tableaux.

Rachmaninoff marked some variations as optional, but Shelley plays them all.

He offers two encores. The "Midsummernight's Dream" transcription is from the 1930s and is a tour de force of virtuosity. The rewritten version of the Melodie op. 3 no. 3 is from 1940 and is heartbreakingly beautiful. It shows the direction Rachmaninoff's piano writing might have taken had he lived longer. Every note is perfect in these encores and on the whole disc. (Some people dislike this recording of the "Corelli," but it's clearly the best one outside of Pletnev.) Yes, buy it, despite the rather steep price.

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