Sergei Rachmaninov - Transcriptions for Orchestra (Neeme Järvi)

Information

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

• Concerto Elégiaque for Piano and Orchestra in D minor, Op. 9
• Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42
• Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14

Alan Kogosowski, piano

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Neeme Järvi, conductor

Date: 1994

Label: Chandos

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%209261

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Review

Alan Kogosowski's motives in orchestrating the Trio elegiaque remain slightly baffling. The original is a fulsome work, certainly—a large-scale, heart-on-sleeve lament for the untimely death of Rachmaninov's friend and supporter Tchaikovsky in October 1893—but if its fault is really its ''unsuitability to chamber-music forces'', as Kogosowski and Chandos's loyal annotator claim, then why did Rachmaninov twice revise it for the same forces? And why do so many of the effects that supposedly cry out for full orchestra—the Orthodox choruses, for example, in the first movement—sound better on solo piano in the original (the Borodin Trio's Luba Edlina makes a resonant case—Chandos, 3/85)? It is at moments like these that Kogosowski might have taken a few more hints from the scoring of the First Symphony, had he wanted to support his case.

Nor is this an effective showpiece for the soloist: more Elegie concertante than Concerto elegiaque, it hands the piano's original moments of eloquence over to the orchestra—especially in the theme and one of the variations of the second movement—and leaves, for the most part, only rippling accompaniment, though Kogosowski adds a few virtuoso flourishes of his own in the finale. He proves a capable rather than charismatic soloist; the true romantic sweep comes from the Detroit strings under Jarvi—raising shades of the Second Piano Concerto in the brooding introduction, fresh of face in the theme from The Rock that Rachmaninov puts forward for variation treatment. The percussionists don't sound entirely happy with their contribution—a tentative side-drum towards the first climax of the work sounds like studio scuffing—but come into their own through the more selective medium of Dumbraveanu's sober but astute orchestral Corelli Variations. Here, underlying rhythms aren't always taut enough but the slow variations are drenched in atmosphere, with plangent woodwind solos that the composer would surely have approved in Vars. 8 and 9 and the Intermezzo (a very fine cor anglais solo), and a noble string chorus that Jarvi defines in serious national-anthem mode for the all-too-short Var. 14. With the Vocalise, we really do reach the heart of the matter, perhaps because the arrangement is Rachmaninov's own; the conductor's familiar rubato writ large again gives the Detroit strings their due.

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Sergei Rachmaninov (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. His music was influenced by Tchaikovsky, Arensky and Taneyev. Rachmaninov wrote five works for piano and orchestra: four concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He also composed a number of works for orchestra alone, including three symphonies, the Symphonic Dances Op. 45, and four symphonic poems.

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Neeme Järvi (born June 7, 1937 in Tallinn) is an Estonian conductor. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under Evgeny Mravinsky and Nikolai Rabinovich, among others. Järvi was Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Gothenburg Symphony (1982-2004), Royal Scottish National Orchestra (1984-1988), Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1990-2005) and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (2012-2015), among others. He made over 400 recordings for labels such as BIS, Chandos and Deutsche Grammophon and best known for his interpretations of Romantic and 20th century classical music.

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