With the word ''THARAUD'' standing out as large and red as the word ''RACHMANINOV'' on the black background of the cover, the equal importance of the interpreter and the composer must be integrated into this new album. This recording must therefore be presented as a concept, a concept explained in the booklet by four questions to which Alexandre Tharaud responds to justify his choices for the coupling around the Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18.
To accompany the most famous of the Russian composer's four piano concertos, the Cinq Morceaux de fantaisie op. 3 are interspersed before the piece Vocalise op. 34, given in its initial version for piano and soprano with Sabine Devieilhe, before Deux pièces pour piano à six mains accompanied by Alexander Melnikov and Aleksandar Madzar.
Right from the start of the concerto, Alexandre Tharaud's piano takes a predominant place compared to the orchestra; the recording microphones place it largely in front of the orchestra in terms of sound. His touch is reminiscent of the French school in its softness and lightness, even if it can sometimes become percussive, at the risk of being even too heavy in the second part of the Moderato or during the coda of the Allegro Scherzando. Conducted by the excellent Alexander Vedernikov, the Royal Liverpool Orchestra provides a majestic accompaniment to a concerto too often treated with vulgarity. The Slavic conductor seems one of the best current choices in his ability to maintain all the sovereignty of the score while recalling its interest and modernity, without denying it lyricism and dynamism.
The following five pieces, early works by a young genius with a style already asserted though still influenced, take on a more French turn than ever here, sometimes leaning towards Satie and Ravel through the transparency of the sonorities. The Prelude has already found better interpreters, but the clarity of the Polichinelle and the Sérénade are totally delightful. Vocalise allows one to enjoy the virtuosity of the young Sabine Devieilhe, with her flexible material and elegantly maintained vocal line that charms for six minutes, without reaching the brilliance of her predecessor Nathalie Dessay accompanied by an orchestra and not a piano.
The two final pieces allow for a beautiful piano trio from which the fluidity and gesture of Melnikov in the treble stand out, his playing being better suited to Tharaud's than Madzar's support in the bass. The Romance seems almost written for only four hands and is interesting mainly because it reuses the theme employed by Rachmaninoff to introduce the Adagio sostenuto of the concerto, but the Waltz adds a particularly successful touch of joyfulness, as if the dark inclinations evoked by the interpreter when talking about the composer had faded into the background of this beautiful CD, an ideal gift for the holiday season!
Source.
To accompany the most famous of the Russian composer's four piano concertos, the Cinq Morceaux de fantaisie op. 3 are interspersed before the piece Vocalise op. 34, given in its initial version for piano and soprano with Sabine Devieilhe, before Deux pièces pour piano à six mains accompanied by Alexander Melnikov and Aleksandar Madzar.
Right from the start of the concerto, Alexandre Tharaud's piano takes a predominant place compared to the orchestra; the recording microphones place it largely in front of the orchestra in terms of sound. His touch is reminiscent of the French school in its softness and lightness, even if it can sometimes become percussive, at the risk of being even too heavy in the second part of the Moderato or during the coda of the Allegro Scherzando. Conducted by the excellent Alexander Vedernikov, the Royal Liverpool Orchestra provides a majestic accompaniment to a concerto too often treated with vulgarity. The Slavic conductor seems one of the best current choices in his ability to maintain all the sovereignty of the score while recalling its interest and modernity, without denying it lyricism and dynamism.
The following five pieces, early works by a young genius with a style already asserted though still influenced, take on a more French turn than ever here, sometimes leaning towards Satie and Ravel through the transparency of the sonorities. The Prelude has already found better interpreters, but the clarity of the Polichinelle and the Sérénade are totally delightful. Vocalise allows one to enjoy the virtuosity of the young Sabine Devieilhe, with her flexible material and elegantly maintained vocal line that charms for six minutes, without reaching the brilliance of her predecessor Nathalie Dessay accompanied by an orchestra and not a piano.
The two final pieces allow for a beautiful piano trio from which the fluidity and gesture of Melnikov in the treble stand out, his playing being better suited to Tharaud's than Madzar's support in the bass. The Romance seems almost written for only four hands and is interesting mainly because it reuses the theme employed by Rachmaninoff to introduce the Adagio sostenuto of the concerto, but the Waltz adds a particularly successful touch of joyfulness, as if the dark inclinations evoked by the interpreter when talking about the composer had faded into the background of this beautiful CD, an ideal gift for the holiday season!
Source.
Rachmaninov conceptualized by Alexandre Tharaud
Vincent GUILLEMIN, ResMusica, November 25, 2016
