S. Rachmaninoff - Variations on a Theme of Chopin & Other Pno Works - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Album Tracks 1. Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Flat minor, Op. 36 Allegro Agitato 2. Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Flat minor, Op. 36 Non Allegro 3. Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Flat minor, Op. 36 Allegro Molto 4. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Theme Andante 5. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 1 Poco Piu Mosso 6. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 2 L'istesso Tempo 7. Var. 3 Tempo Di Menuetto 8. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 4 Andante 9. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 5 Allegro (Ma Non Tanto) 10. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 6 L'istesso Tempo 11. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 7 Vivace 12. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 8 Adagio Misterioso 13. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 9 Un Poco Piu Mosso 14. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 10 Allegro Scherzando 15. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 11 Allegro Vivace 16. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 12 L'istesso Tempo 17. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 13 Agitato 18. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Intermezzo 19. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 14 Andante (Come Prima) 20. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 15 L'istesso Tempo 21. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 16 Allegro Vivace 22. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 17 Meno Mosso 23. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 18 Allegro Con Brio 24. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 19 Piu Mosso, Agitato 25. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Var. 20 Piu Mosso 26. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 Coda Andante 27. Moments Musicaux, Op. 16 Andantino 28. Moments Musicaux, Op. 16 Allegretto 29. Moments Musicaux, Op. 16 And

After his participation in the 2015 Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Sergei Babayan noted of Georgijs Osokins that 'he has a very rare gift of a true Chopinist... This young musician is exceptionally talented.' This talent was on show for all to hear in his debut album of late Chopin for Piano Classics. Now Osokins moves between the contrasting worlds of Chopin and Rachmaninov with the same unruffled authority as his seamless legato. As his first lengthy composition for piano, Rachmaninov's set of Chopin Variations Op. 22 is a rare bird both in recital and on record, and rarer still in it's complete form, as presented here. Osokins also takes the rare option, authorized by the composer, of playing the full theme both at the beginning and end of the Variations, lending to it a shape and coherence missing from several other, more storied versions. Indeed Osokins places himself in the distinguished tradition of Earl Wild and his forebears stretching back to Liszt, both in terms of his dazzling technical assurance and his repertoire, which encompasses original transcriptions as much as Romantic-era masterpieces. To follow the Variations he plays Wild's version of 'In the Silence of the Secret Night' Op. 4 No. 3- a brooding, melancholy nocturne of a song- and a sensual take on 'How Fair This Spot' by Arcadi Volodos. Then there is Rachmaninov's own, early Barcarolle, a rarely heard collection of Fragments (from 1917, the year of his exile to the US) and a version of the famous Vocalise which is the work of many hands, including Ososkins, who rounds off the album in the grand style with his own transcription of the 'Nunc Dimittis' from the Vespers.

Album Tracks 1. Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 Allegro Moderato 2. Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 Lento 3. Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 Allegro Molto 4. Sonato No. 2 in B Flat minor, Op. 36 (Original Version, 1913) Allegro Agitato 5. Sonato No. 2 in B Flat minor, Op. 36 (Original Version, 1913) Non Allegro - Lento - L'istesso Tempo 6. Sonato No. 2 in B Flat minor, Op. 36 (Original Version, 1913) Allegro Molto