Rachmaninov: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Volume 2 (Piano Transcriptions)

Rachmaninoff (Artist), Ruth Laredo (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000281D
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,620 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #29 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Instruments > Keyboard > Piano
  • #62 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Lullabies & Berceuse

Track Listings

1. Variations on a Theme of Chopin, for piano, Op. 22: Theme. Largo - Variations I - VI

2. Variations on a Theme of Chopin, for piano, Op. 22: Variations VII - X

3. Variations on a Theme of Chopin, for piano, Op. 22: Variations XI - XIV

4. Variations on a Theme of Chopin, for piano, Op. 22: Variations XV - XX

5. Variations on a Theme of Chopin, for piano, Op. 22: Variations XXI - XXII

6. Suite from the Violin Partita in E major: Prelude, Gavotte & Gigue, transcription for piano after J. S. Bach, TN iii/1: Prelude

7. Suite from the Violin Partita in E major: Prelude, Gavotte & Gigue, transcription for piano after J. S. Bach, TN iii/1: Gavotte

8. Suite from the Violin Partita in E major: Prelude, Gavotte & Gigue, transcription for piano after J. S. Bach, TN iii/1: Gigue

9. L' Arlésienne, suite for orchestra No. 1, from the incidental music

10. The Flight of the Bumble Bee, musical picture for orchestra (from The Tale of Tsar Saltan)

11. Wohin? ('Ich hört ein Bächlein rauschen'), song for voice & piano (Die schöne Müllerin), D. 795/2 (Op. 25/2)

12. A Midsummer Night's Dream, incidental music, Op. 61: Scherzo

13. Lullaby in a storm, song for voice & piano (16 Children's Songs), Op. 54/10

14. Sorochintsï Fair (Sorochinskaya yarmarka), comic opera (incomplete): Hopak

15. Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow), for violin & piano

16. Liebesfreud (Love's Joy), for violin & piano

17. Polka W.R., for piano in A flat major, TN ii/18

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars No match for Shelley and Hyperion, June 28, 2011

By 

Stephen Fairley "steve284" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rachmaninov: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Volume 2 (Piano Transcriptions) (Audio CD)

I purchased this set for a second time having owned it some years ago in its original format. After listening to it again I began to realise why I sold it all those years ago. The reason being that it is not particularly distinguished playing. Don't get me wrong Laredo's technique is not at fault but you can't help thinking that she is somehow going through the motions and not plunging the depths of emotion that these pieces really need. In its day the set offered a good survey of Rachmaninov's solo piano works at a time when there wasn't a lot of choice in this repertoire. However, today it is not so competitive on anything other than price grounds. Unfortunately, the recorded piano sound is not helpful as its often heavy and lifeless. Also I found the pedal noise on these recordings infuriatingly distracting. While I realise that pedal noise is a factor of piano recordings I found it hard to bear on this set.

Ultimately, it's not a bad survey just not a great one and none of the discs would rank anywhere near first choice (at least for me) in this brilliant music. I have Ashkenazy's solo Rachmaninov Decca recordings as well as recital selections by others such as the wonderful Nikolai Demidenko and Dmitri Alexeev. All of these artists convey this music with much more emotional depth than Ruth Laredo. Having been disappointed with this set I have now invested in Howard Shelley's complete Hyperion survey. I can't say I'm disappointed either, as soon as I listened to the Morceaux de fantaisie on the first disc I realised that I'd made the right choice. So to conclude, I can't recommend Laredo even on the grounds of low cost. Even in today's austere economic times it would be best to save your pennies for something more heavenly like Shelley's set.